‘Frustrated’ Jones vows to ‘keep fighting’ after Barnsley blow and sets target to beat the drop

Nathan Jones protests with referee Dean Whitestone after the final whistle. Photo by Liam Smith

A frustrated Nathan Jones decried the late drama that saw Luton draw 1-1 with relegation rivals Barnsley, but said Town will keep fighting a now need at least three wins from their last four to beat the drop.

In the battle of the Championship’s bottom two, the Hatters were leading going into the 84^th minute, thanks to Luke Berry’s first half blockbuster, but the Tykes were awarded a controversial corner, from which Aapo Halme levelled.

But to add insult to injury Harry Cornick squandered a late one-on-one, which means Town are still four points adrift of safety at the foot of the table.

Harry Cornick races through late on. Photo by Liam Smith

“We’ll keep fighting,” said Jones, adding: “We’ve got four games left and we need to win on Friday (against Huddersfield) and then it takes it to three games and we’ll see where we are.

“We know the points total (we’ve set ourselves) and that’s get-able, it’s just obviously, we’d have like to have won today.”

Asked if Luton need to win their remaining four matches, Jones said: “I couldn’t say that because I don’t know. I’d need a crystal ball to tell you. You need to win three, that’s for sure, and then it depends on a lot of things.

“I’m frustrated because we didn’t hold out for the win, but it’s one of them things.”

Frustration boiled over at the final whistle when the Hatters boss confronted referee Dean Whitestone over the corner that led to Barnsley’s equaliser.

Sonny Bradley, Luke Berry and James Bree remonstrate with referee Dean Whitestone after the final whistle. Photo by Liam Smith

He said: “The ref gave the corner and we felt that he guessed at it, really. We had one the other day were the referee said, ‘I didn’t know, so I gave it to the defensive team’.

“So, we would’ve liked that, we felt it wasn’t a corner, but those are the decisions that go against you.

“We’re disappointed because it was a pretty even game in terms of chances and certain things in such a big game, it’s just after leading and going into the 84^th minute, you want to hold out, you want to make sure you win the game.”

He added: “You always fear the worst as a manager in such a big game, but I couldn’t see them scoring.

“It came from a corner, so that’s the really frustrating thing and then having the best chance of the game, straight after, to win it, you’re just frustrated then.”