Graeme Jones believes Luton are one ‘mental step’ away from a first Championship victory, but understands they can’t keep showing promise and coming away empty handed after a 1-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
Town were the better side in the first half at Hillsborough but were punished early in the second half for a defensive lapse that allowed Kadeem Harris to consign them a their third successive defeat for the first time in more than two years.
Manager Jones said: “I feel like we deserved something from the game, but we can’t keep repeating that story.
“The only thing I’ll say is from a progress point of view, we had 60 minutes out of the game against Cardiff, then against West Brom we had six minutes out of the game, then tonight we’ve had one action.
“We’re getting closer to it, but we need to win a game of football and that’s where we are.
“We’re together, the whole group, the staff, the players, and we’ll get there.
“It’s just, if playing in the Championship was easy, everyone would be doing it, and they’re not.
“We are there technically, tactically, physically, we are there.
“It’s just that last mental step, and once we win a game of football in the Championship, we’ll be absolutely fine.”
After the break, Wednesday got wise to Town playing out from the back and Jacob Murphy pounced on Ryan Tunnicliffe who couldn’t keep hold of goalie Simon Sluga’s throw out.
The Hatters couldn’t keep out the wide man’s cross and they failed to hinder Stephen Fletcher who headed down for an unmarked Harris to convert.
Jones said: “You want to give players freedoms, you invest in players’ brains and their football actions.
“I didn’t see the goal, I turned away, but I think SImon threw the ball to Ryan, and these things happen.
“Ryan’s in a confident moment, you want him to take the ball at that point, you trust him, and we get punished for it, which is what’s happening at the minute, but you need to believe you can win a game of football.
“I think the stats were all in our favour, possession, shots off target, shots on target, but it’s got to go in the back of the net and we’ve got to go and win on Saturday and that’s where we are.”
