Graeme Jones has welcomed the return of Izzy Brown, but also paid tribute to Kazenga LuaLua for his role in last night’s 3-2 victory over Derby County.
An 88th minute own goal by Jayden Bogle settled a pulsating Championship contest that saw Town come from behind as all five goals were scored in the last half an hour.
In the 68th minute, after Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s blast cancelled out Wayne Rooney’s deflected strike, playmaker Brown replaced LuaLua to mark his early return from a hamstring injury.
The Chelsea loan ace had been expected to return midway through February, so his speedy recovery is a big boost to Town’s survival hopes, not least because he’s created the most chances per minute in the whole division.
But Hatters manager Jones said: “It’s not just about Izzy. Everyone knows my thoughts about Izzy because I know his quality.
“If you go back to November, even October, (I said) ‘if we keep Izzy Brown fit, we’ll stay in the Championship’. We’ve missed him for eight weeks and it’s been difficult, but we’ve got to look after him.
“It was great that he got 30 minutes, but I need to highlight the job that Kazenga LuaLua did before he came on the pitch.
“Sometimes you have to share a full 95 minutes in terms of two players performing one role and I thought that both of them acquitted themselves really well.”
Brown had picked up his injury when Luton were 5-0 down during a 7-0 thumping at the hands of Brentford and, without him, they had been on a dismal run, picking up just one point.
“The day at Brentford hurt us a lot,” said Jones, adding: “It wasn’t just the result, we lost Izzy and Brendan Galloway. The following week we lost Dan Potts and Martin Cranie was out injured before that.
“At this football club you can’t afford to lose players like that. You can’t at any football club, never mind Luton in the Championship.
“I said we’re a competitive Championship side when everybody’s fit. Tonight we were competitive.”
