Nathan Jones revealed that striker James Collins was kept out of the squad for the 2-0 defeat to Stoke due to a possible case of Coronavirus.
Town’s top scorer was the main omission from the starting line-up, replaced by Danny Hylton, as rumours swirled online about missing out on a move away from the club before the transfer window shut yesterday.
But Jones dispelled that by saying: “He’s not felt well, so we’ve had to pull him out, as is the thing, and people tell me that social media-wise… well, we don’t drop James Collins, our leading goalscorer from the side, so let’s have an element of common sense.
“In today’s society, when someone feels ill, then you have to pull them out as there is a disease going round, a pandemic, just in case anyone doesn’t realise, so we’ve had to pull him out from the game and test him, then we’re awaiting results on that test.”
Asked if Collins was suspected of having Coronavirus, Jones said: “I don’t know, my crystal ball, I haven’t put on for a while. We don’t pull James Collins out of the squad unless he’s injured, or he’s done something ridiculous, which he doesn’t normally do
“So, in a normal thing he would be ill, so you’d think, are you fit enough to play? Yeah? And then you put him in, but this is a different world now, so if anyone feels ill then the whole world panics as it could be Covid and then there could be another pandemic within Luton Town.”
