Nathan Jones is not concerned by Luton’s home returns this term, but knows his team’s fortunes have to change to start reflecting their performance levels.
Town host third-placed Queens Park Rangers tomorrow lunchtime when they’ll have to overcome an eight-game winless run against the Londoners in order to register just their second Championship victory on home soil.
However, manager Jones believes his side’s efforts have warranted more from their seven league outings at Kenilworth Road.
While they’ve scored nine times in seven games, they have conceded as many, which has seen the draw four times, including a crazy last outing when they drew 3-3 with basement boys Huddersfield by scoring two own goals from corners and conceding a penalty.
Jones said: “I think we’ve been really good. Apart from three set-plays we were outstanding against Huddersfield, scored three goals and could’ve scored more.
“The Wigan game was exactly the same. We were in total control of the game, with no real problems. The sporadic attacks that they had came to very little, but we imploded within six, seven minutes, so I’m not really worried about that (home results), but it has to turn.
“It’s still early on, but if our performance levels are there, generally, then results will come. We have to maintain our performance levels, do the basics well and once we do that we’re a good side.
“We’ve got goals in us. We very rarely don’t score, but we have to make sure that we do the basics well and then are potent the other way.”
Apart from the six-goal thriller, the last time Town were at home, they earned three clean sheets in their last four games, to hint at a return to the defensive stubbornness that last season brought 19 shutouts.
“We’re hoping that continues,” said Jones, adding: “It’ll be a real tough test on Saturday, but I’d to get four or five because we’ve got three tough games coming up against three big, ex-Premier League sides.
“So, it’ll be a real testing week and we’ll need to be disciplined and defensively strong because we can’t be gung-ho.
“But we do pride ourselves on doing the basics right and that’s why the Huddersfield game was such an anomaly because we’re normally far, far better than that.
“We have to make sure that we don’t do that again and then do all the basics that we did really well at West Brom.”
Having kept a clean sheet at the Hawthorns, against a goal-shy Baggies side, Town must next contend with a QPR side that have the second-best away record in the division, only by virtue of having played one more game that Wigan. That has seen Rangers fire the joint second highest amount of goals on their travels, while conceding the joint second least.
And in Illias Chair, the Londoners have the playmaker with the most assists in the division so far this term, while striker Chris Willock is level-pegging with Towns top scorer Carlton Morris on six.
Jones said: “They’re an excellent attacking side, they always have been. We know that they pose a real threat.
“We have come unstuck against them, some of that has been our own undoing but we know it is going to be a real tough game.
“We know they’ve got threats, we’ve got threats, they will be aware of our threats and we will be aware of their threats.
“It’s another Championship game. You look at Norwich on Tuesday and they have threats. Watford have got threats, you look at West Brom the other day and their front three are real threats.
“Everyone has threats, you wouldn’t be at this level if you didn’t have the capacity to score goals and have individuals that can turn a game. QPR have plenty of them.”
