Graeme Jones joked that he’d been teasing Martin Cranie about his lack of goals before the defender scored a stunner to sink Brentford 2-1 last night.
The 33-year-old was named as the only change to the side that lost 3-1 at Charlton on Saturday and he smashed a stunning top corner volley to mark his return after one game away.
It was his first goal since the opening day of the season, which actually made his strike rate for Town two goals from three shots but, more crucially, handed the Hatters a 2-0 half-time lead on the way to a vital three points in their bid for Championship survival.
“I was having a go at him last week, saying ‘you never score a goal,’ this, that and the other,” said boss Jones, adding: “He’s calling himself a goalscoring defender in there (changing room) now.
“It was a corner and we are a threat from them, we are up there in the set-piece table. We knew it was an important area, but Brentford have conceded the least amount of goals in the league.
“With no Izzy (Brown), no Kaz (LuaLua), we had to have a different game-plan and that was part of it.”
Cranie was also part of a highly-organised defensive effort to tame the Championship’s second highest scorers, who had whacked seven past Town back in November.
“I made one change because Martin’s been getting there, physically, and I knew his experience would be vital,” said the Hatters chief.
“He’s a fantastic decision-maker on the pitch. (Said) Benrahma’s a fantastic player, he’s a winger, then all of a sudden he’s a number ten and Glen (Rea) had to take him.
“He (Cranie) had to deal with Rico Henry coming forward and I thought Martin was excellent.”
Jones also raved about his side’s off-the-ball display all of the pitch, saying: “We were magnificent. The intelligence of the press from Harry (Cornick), James Collins and from Luke Berry in particular. He was doing two jobs. Zonally, he was fantastic, but he was aggressive in the press and then really well supported by Ryan (Tunnicliffe), Pelly-Ruddock (Mpanzu) and Glen Rea.
“To a man, I haven’t got a complaint.”
