By Adam Ellis
Nathan Jones has committed to League Two promotion chasers Luton Town by signing a new three-and-a-half year deal.
The Hatters sit fifth in the fourth tier’s play-off places as the season approaches its end, with the Welshman keen to repay the club’s faith in him.
He told lutontown.co.uk: “Once the club made it clear that they wanted to do that, I was only too happy to sit down and speak.
“I am very proud to be manager of the football club. I have loved my time here. I think we have made great strides in the 14 months and I am delighted to commit my future.
“It’s a wonderful club. I have got a wonderful relationship with all the staff and the fans and everything. So I hope they are as pleased as I am!”
Luton have spent the past three seasons in League Two following promotion back into the Football League in 2014, and, after league finishes of 11th and 8th, Jones is looking to take the club higher despite the setback of drawing all three recent games against promotion rivals Doncaster, Plymouth and Carlisle.
“For me I want to win as many games as I can. I try to win every single game. I have never gone into a game here thinking ‘a draw will do us here’. We have drawn a lot of games here, especially this season.
“But that’s from other teams clinging on. We have very, very, very rarely been clinging on for a draw in our games here. I am proud of that, but we are a positive team. We are a positive club, we want to get on the front foot. That’s my approach, that’s how I live, so that’s how I want my team to be.”
Former Brighton assistant manager Jones took the reins at Kenilworth Road in January 2016 following John Still’s dismissal.
Since then he has been quick to assert his style on the team, boasting a win ratio nearing 50 per cent and signing Danny Hylton – Luton’s first striker to surpass 20 goals for a season, as an EFL club, since Steve Howard in 2004-05.
Jones, 43, added: “It’s where we finish. Trust me, I would rather my win ratio be 30 per cent, but us be in the top three if it meant that.
Luton are six points adrift of Portsmouth in third but play their game in hand tonight (Tuesday) against relegation-threatened Newport County, knowing a victory would see them climb into fourth above in-form Stevenage.
