Luton manager Nathan Jones says sealing a Great Escape tonight would be “a great achievement, but it’s not miraculous” – because the Hatters have shown they’re “categorically good enough” to play in the Championship.
Since the Welshman returned to lead the charge in the restart after the Coronavirus shutdown, Town have taken 13 points from a possible 24 which, at 1.625 points per game, would have put them in the hunt for a play-off place, if extrapolated over the course of a season.
The club were odds on to get relegated during the three-month football shutdown, when they were effectively seven points adrift, but now their destiny is in their own hands, knowing that a victory at home to Blackburn Rovers will see them safe.
Jones said: “It would be an incredible achievement to stay in the division anyway. A lot of credit has to go to the previous manager (Graeme Jones) as well.
“Leading into the lockdown, they had a decent bit of momentum, which gathered points, which, hopefully, will enable us to reach a target.
“For us to stay in the division with everything we had, it’s just a (small) budget and a lack of experience in the Championship, because it’s nothing else, because these players are categorically good enough to play in the Championship.
“It’s not about we’re not good enough and we’re fighting against all odds. The experience we have of being a Championship club, we haven’t had for a while. Apart from that, this is a Championship club.
“The infrastructure, the training ground, the people we have in place, the players, they are good enough to be in the Championship.
“They are showing that now. So, it would be a great achievement, but it’s not miraculous. We’re not fighting every odd possible.
“We’ve built for three years, for these moments. It would be a shame to let that go.”
Town won back-to-back promotions to return to the Championship after 12 years away, including five in the non-league.
Jones orchestrated the promotion from League Two and laid the foundations for the League One title triumph last year, but left acrimoniously to join Stoke in January 2019, leaving club legend Mick Harford to finish off the job.
His return to the hotseat in May surprised many but just one defeat since the restart speaks for itself.
Asked if securing Luton’s Championship status would be a better achievement than two promotions in two years, the manager said: “People say that, and I have thought about being asked that. It’s difficult because, over a 46-game season, for you to be promoted, you have to be consistent over a real long period of time.
“What this is, over a short period of time, against every single odd possible – as we were bang-on favourites to go down probably at the beginning of the year and definitely coming out of lockdown –it’s a fantastic achievement.
“To turn around what we have so far is a real good platform, going into the final game.
“I’m not going to say it lightly, because it would be a fantastic, fantastic achievement.
“It takes some team to get promoted. You’ve got to be consistent for 46 games near enough. To do that and to play with some pressure takes some doing, so I won’t take anything away from the two promotions that we’ve had, because it does take quite a lot.
“This would be more like a sprint. So, if you’re saying 100 metres is slightly better than a marathon, then no, be consistent in both.”
