Nathan Jones says he understands the pressure West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Bruce is under, but insists the Baggies’ points don’t match their performances as he prepares to take Luton to the Hawthorns tomorrow.
The West Midlands outfit are on an eight-game winless run, including and sit in the Championship relegation zone with two straight defeats heading into this weekend’s clash.
In contrast, Town have only one defeat in their last eight and are seven points ahead of Albion.
The Hatters’ last two games have been against Hull and Huddersfield, both of whom sacked their managers before the games.
Bruce, who is in his record 44th season as a player and manager, is the latest Championship boss under fire, and it’s a position Jones has been in himself when in charge at Stoke City.
The Welshman said: “I have been there myself. Performance-wise, your numbers have been good but results haven’t been and sometimes that can happen.
“I don’t want to comment on Steve, I really like Steve, he is a good guy, he’s at a big club. He’s very experienced so whatever happens at that club, we can’t second guess anything. I’m sure good owners will look at performances and see that they’re a good side.”
He added: “Results-wise they’re struggling, performance-wise they’re doing very well.
“They’re in a false position for the squad they’ve got and the level they have been playing at. They’re a good side and very unfortunate, they controlled the game (against Preston) and with, the greatest of respect, were the better team on Saturday when they lost (to Swansea).
“We’re in a results business so I understand the pressure but performance-wise they are really dangerous.”
While Luton have stuttered at Kenilworth Road this season, they have won their last three on the road, and Jones said: “If we can build on it, brilliant, if we continue it I’ll be delighted.
“It’s a tough place to go, West Brom, it really is. I’ve been there a couple of times managing so it will be nice to get a result there.
“I’m not saying the (away) form is better, I’m just saying the points are better. We have conceded five at home in the last three games, we kept a clean sheet against Blackburn but we didn’t do the basics well (against Huddersfield).
“We were a bit disjointed; the other day was calamitous, we won’t score two own goals like that again, I’m sure.
“We’ve been one of the best in the league at set plays but it was calamitous because people just didn’t do the basics well enough.
“If you don’t do the basics in the Championship, you’re going to get punished and we scored three goals at home, could have been more, but still only drew the game which is criminal.
“I’m really disappointed with that and they know that but they’re a good group. One they have to react to that but two we have to go back to what we normally do.”
While Reece Burke has been ruled out for a “number of weeks”, according to Jones, the managers is hopeful of other players being available after Gabriel Osho and Luke Freeman were absent from the squad in Tuesday’s 3-3 draw with Huddersfield, replaced by academy aces Casey Petit and Zack Nelson.
He said: “We will hopefully have a couple back so we will be a little stronger in that position, but those on the bench have earned their right. We talked about Zack, Casey has done really well in the development games he has played and we knew he could handle it so it’s not a massive thing. Yes, we should be stronger in that department.”
And Henri Lansbury, was withdrawn at half-time in midweek after netting that stunner in the win at Hull.
Jones said: “He had two games in quick succession, coming back from injury, not having a full pre-season was always going to be tough.
“So we had a word and thought if we were going to give him 10 minutes and then make a sub but at half-time it doesn’t class as a sub so we made that decision and we felt Pelly (Ruddock Mpanzu) needs the minutes because he hasn’t got rhythm yet.
“So, the longer he gets, the better he gets, quicker. It was a decision we took, Henri wasn’t his energetic self so we felt we needed to do something.
“(It’s a) squad game, Saturday, Tuesday. That is why we need the squad and that is why we recruit and we’ve added competition in all areas because they know they’re going to play.
“It’s one of those things, we’ve picked up a couple of things, innocuous things from training or from games so that was frustrating last week but we’re in a better position than we were Tuesday.”
