Nathan Jones is targeting a top 10 Championship finish for Luton and then further evolution next season with a play-offs push.
Town take on Reading at home tonight, fresh off the back of an exhilarating derby day victory over arch-rivals Watford on Saturday and determined to have a strong finish to an impressive campaign season.
That win made the 13th placed Hatters mathematically safe with five games to go and a further success tonight would put them level on points with tenth-placed Millwall. It would also represent the first time Luton have put three straight wins together in the league this term.
Jones said: “Our goal is to be top 10 now. If we can do that and recruit well, keep hold of players, then the goal next year is to be closer to the top six than we are now.
“A lot of people would laugh at that and say, ‘how can you have a bottom three budget and expect that?’ That’s what the club’s built on, that ambition, that desire to do well.
“We only believe we’re going to get better and we’ve always believed that from the time I was fortunate to come into the club in 2016. We’ve improved every single goal and that’s the continual goal.”
And Town can take heart from their results against the current top six, where they have beaten promoted Norwich, Watford, Bournemouth and Barnsley, while deserving more from excellent performances against Swansea and Brentford.
“It’s massive,” said Jones, using those results as an example of what Luton can achieve.
“There is an evolution here, in terms of how we play. There was from last year. Last year we had to do a certain thing. We had to get points and we did that.
“Now, we are far more aggressive. We go into games, not just shoring up teams, we want to be aggressive, front-footed and have our own identity and that takes time.
“We can just go straight away and do that. It’s a work in progress and we are well on our way. It’s great that we are competing with these top clubs in the Championship.
“If I’m honest, and I make no bones about it and say this with the greatest of respect, we should’ve beaten Birmingham at home, Forest at home, should’ve got something out of Middlesbrough away, should’ve beaten Swansea, Brentford we should’ve got something out of.
“Those are not games, where everyone says ‘shoulda, woulda coulda’. We were dominant. If you add six more, seven more points, to that, we’re not far off play-offs, the top six.”
Two more victories would also see Luton surpass their previous best Championship finish this century of 61 points in 2005.
“I didn’t know that,” said Jones, adding: “We have our own points target, whatever that is. The points target initially was to get to 51 points, not because 51 keeps you up but 51 is where we finished last year.
“For us to progress and for it to be classed as a progressive season, then we have to get to 51 points. We did that a few games ago, we got close to it and then the last two games we have surpassed it. That is all we want to do – progress.
“The championship is different, harder now, we don’t want to beat things we have done before, we want to create our own history and that is what we are looking to do. It is all about progression this year.”
Jones will wait until late to assess the fitness of striker Elijah Adebayo after he limped off at the weekend, having won the deciding penalty against Watford. Harry Cornick didn’t make the squad and the manager said: “We will have to wait and see on a few, one or two – people like Harry Cornick, Dan Potts have picked up little bumps and stuff so we have to wait and then make a call late on or might not be able to do it.
“We will make the right choices in terms of moving forward, not just for one game so let’s see. Could be a big 24 hours. (Sam) Nombe missed out (against Watford) with illness, he has had a day or two training but hopefully he is available for selection with no adverse action. We wait and see.”
Tonight will be the fourth time Town have faced Reading this term, having knocked them out of both cups but losing in the league. But the last time the Royals came to Kenilworth Road, they dished out a humbling 5-0 defeat in one of the few blips after Jones returned for the last nine games to steer Luton to safety.
The manager said: “Ironically, we have played them four times since I have been back, won two and lost two. 50/50 at the minute but we are not thinking about anything else, just getting to 59 points by midnight. That is our only focus, nothing to do with Reading’s positioning, nothing to do with anything else in the world apart from Luton Town attaining 59 points. That is our total focus.”
