Two balls please! Lessons learned but Jones says Chelsea cup re-run will be different in Luton

Nathan Jones has joked that they might try Chelsea’s two-ball trick from last term’s FA Cup clash, but believes this year’s re-run will be a completely different game.

Town lost 3-1 at an empty Stamford Bridge last season, with fans shut out due to Covid restrictions. 

But the Hatters were not helped by two balls being on the pitch as the Blues built up to Tammy Abraham’s opening goal, with Jones particularly scathing of a post-match encounter with referee David Coote for allowing play to continue. 

The striker, now at Roma, scored again before the 20-minute mark, on his way to a hat-trick, to leave Luton with a mountain to climb.

Asked what he can take from the trip to west London last year, Jones joked: “We learned lessons from last year. We learned you can play with two balls on the pitch so we might try that and learned that if your changing room is a mile away from the pitch then leave a bit earlier. 

“We have learned lessons from last year but we gave a real good account of ourselves. We were high press against them last year, we came unstuck against them early on but then we were really in the game. 

“They had phenomenal players they could call upon and plus it was away from home and we didn’t have any of our fans there. It’s a categorically different game to what we imagine it is going to be this week. 

“We’re going to relish it but it’s a real opportunity to test ourselves, not just to enjoy it but we’re going to test ourselves.”

Chelsea swapped their manager after the cup win over Luton with Frank Lampard being replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who has engineered victory in the Champions League and the World Club Cup. 

But Luton have also improved this term. They were a mid-table Championship team 14 months ago, but now they’ve just forced their way into the play-off places and are the in-form team in the second tier. 

Asked if he may change his tactics to cope with the threat from Chelsea, Jones said: “We may have to. You have to pay them the upmost respect, they have world-class players, 20 world-class players and probably 25 internationals. 

“If you are in Chelsea’s squad and you’re not an international then you are either a really young lad or someone not quite right. 

“They are a big side to come up against in every single level but we have to relish it. We have to try and be us as much as possible.

“We will need to ride our luck at times, we’re going to need gods will and we’re going to need to play very well. Whatever happens, we’re going to nee

d to take any chances that might come our way.”

Henri Lansbury and Elijah Adebayo both suffered knocks in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Derby, while Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu was missing altogether after being rested due to fatigue. 

Jones said: “It’s a bit of fatigue he’s got, in terms of we’re at the stage of the season, where we can’t keep pushing because if they break down then they miss a big run-in. So, we’ve taken the calculated decision to pull Pelly out of the firing line, to give him a little bit of rest, and to go from there.

“While you’re picking up results it’s easier to do that as other people are stepping up and stepping in, we’re only as strong as our weakest link, so all those that have trained today, some have had a down day today, others have really trained hard and we’re only as strong as that group.

“I’ve been at places where that group doesn’t see the value, if we start to do that then the likes of Danny Hylton, likes of Gabe Osho, people who have come in and done unbelievably well, are not at the level because they don’t train that way, but we don’t have that group, so it’s really, really important that everyone’s at it.”

But midfielders Luke Berry and Jordan Clark have both been back in training and could be in contention, while new signing Robert Snodgrass is closer to fitness too, with Jones adding: “Snodgrass is days further ahead, Berry’s days further ahead, Clark you’d never think he’d been out. We’ve got to manage them well as we’ve got 14 huge huge games to go and the more we can have available for these as the Saturday, Tuesday or Saturday Wednesday so on, we’re going to need the squad and it’s my job to manage them well.”