Nathan Jones knew he could count on Elliot Lee when he restored the forgotten forward to the starting line-up against Swansea – as he’d transformed himself during the manager’s first spell in charge.
The 25-year-old was thrust back into action for Saturday’s 1-0 Championship win at the Liberty Stadium, 160 days after his last substitute outing.
It was Lee’s first start since the opening day of the season, in a 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough, but he featured just three more times in the league – all off the bench – as he fell out of favour with former boss Graeme Jones.
The former West Ham youth revealed on Saturday how he’d fallen out with Luton’s previous manager, claiming he didn’t trust him, but that the return of Nathan Jones has restored harmony.
Lee signed for the Welshman in the summer of 2017, during his first spell as manager, and he scored 12 times in each of the last two back-to-back promotion-winning campaigns.
Asked about how comfortable the forward was against Swansea, in his first match for six months, Jones said: “Elliot Lee always has done that for me. He’s been superb.
“When I was here previously, he came in and I had certain doubts about could he do what he needed to, out of possession. He literally changed every part of how he went about his work.
“He was absolutely superb. What we do get from Elliot Lee is he’s comfortable in possession. He’s not afraid of the football and that’s what we needed.
“Last week we were a little bit tentative in terms of our build-up and our fluency. We looked solid again. Apart from one mistake I didn’t see Preston scoring last week.
“But we were better (against Swansea). No mistakes, scored and looked a lot more comfortable.”
Asked if Jones had changed during his 16 months away from Luton, and an ill-feted spell at Stoke City, Lee said: “He is a different person. I think he’s been through a lot at his previous club. I think he’s learnt a lot but the thing with the gaffer, he always brings a positive atmosphere. He drives you every day to get better and better.
“As long was your training hard and working hard you’ve always got a chance under the gaffer. The biggest thing he’s brought back is a positive atmosphere.”
