Luton boss Nathan thinks that people should not be fixated on what Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu doesn’t do, but all the thing that he does – lauding the midfielder’s attributes as a person and a player.
The four-league Luton legend, scored the winner against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, having missed a sitter, with the manager praising his overall performance and admitting that the former West Ham youth just needed to add some composure to become “some player”.
Ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Nottingham Forest, Jones expanded on his admiration for the 26-year-old, saying: “You’ve got to understand that Pelly came here as a centre half. He played on Saturday, and scored, as our third striker, so he’s had some development, the boy.
“Yeah, we can add stuff, but I don’t think we should be saying, ‘well, what hasn’t he got?’ People say to me, and people I’m close to, are critical of Pelly-Ruddock and they have no idea what that boy does, day in, day out. They have no idea.
“He is one of the best human beings and players I’ve ever come across, in terms of lifting a place, work-rate and wanting to get better.
“The trouble is, he keeps doing what he’s doing, but he started in the Conference and now he’s in the Championship and he’s doing the same things, so he must’ve got better. It’s just the level’s get better every year for him, near enough, and he’s adapted to the level. He’s like Harry Cornick and it’s wonderful.”
Mpanzu is the only Hatter in history to have played and scored in four different divisions and his goal at Hillsborough on Saturday took his club total to 19, continuing his record of never having been on the losing side when he’s scored, with 18 victories and one draw.
Jones added: “We can keep on about Pelly, about what he doesn’t do, but what does he do? He has fantastic energy, he’s a powerhouse, he scores goals from midfield, I can play him anywhere and he’ll adapt.
“He lifts my environment every single day, he works hard, he has quality, he’s a driving force. I can keep on if you want to, but of all the stuff he hasn’t got, he’s got 100 attributes that I absolutely love.”
With 260 appearances to his name, Mpanzu has played every single minute of Luton’s Championship campaign so far, highlighting another attribute, in stark contrast to the early part of his Hatters career when he was considered quite injury prone.
Jones said: “If you believe in the work you do, you have good processes, good recovery schedules and then someone buys into something wholeheartedly, then good things can happen.
“It is phenomenal, because he trains every day, he never misses a day’s training, never misses a game, he’s never one of the lowest in training, he’s just high on absolutely everything. It’s brilliant. It’s phenomenal, what he does.”
