Nat’s back in the Hatt
LUTON may have re-heated Nathan Jones as their manager, but their reward could be a very tasty survival story others find hard to stomach.
Jones’ Hatters left Swansea looking almost as under-cooked as the burgers he claimed to have left in the fridge at home, thanks to a meaty header from James Collins.
The victory lifted Luton off the bottom of the table and four points from his two games back in charge suggest re-employing the boss who quit to join Stoke may prove an inspired move.
When it was put to him this result has ignited their belief, Jones said: “If we had no belief, why come here? I could have stayed in my garden and had a barbeque.
“We had belief that we could stay up before we came into this game, but we have to instil it with results. Results rubberstamp the belief.”
For Swansea, this result was an eye-catching juicy sausage that slips between the grill bars and falls into the ashes.
Not only did they only
SWANSEA CITY manage three attempts on target, they had winger Jordan Garrick sent off in the 83rd minute for a rabbit-punch thrown during a huge melee.
Then, Steve Cooper’s stupefied troops would have heard that rivals Cardiff City had won at Preston to open a fourpoint gap between the playoffs and the Swans.
Luton were the better side for most of the match, even though they failed to get a goal to cap their firsthalf dominance and then had to defend with discipline in the second.
But they earned their reward with a superbly taken goal by Collins in the 72nd minute – his 13th of the season.
Substitute Izzy Brown whipped over a cross from the right and Collins floored Swans centreback Ben Cabango with the power of his leap, before heading past Freddie Woodman. Jones added: “We have to get to a certain points tally and keep things in our own hands. We go to Leeds now, which is mammoth, but let’s enjoy this for a minute.”
Cooper made no excuses for his team’s poor display – or for Garrick’s red card.
“Once the game started, I didn’t like our attitude towards it,” he admitted.
“We were waiting for the person next to us to get the job done, rather than doing it ourselves.
“It was a clear red. I’ve got no arguments.”
LUTON