Luton's youngsters returned to winning ways thanks to Ashley Harrison-Barker's second-half strike against Rushden & Diamonds.

The Hatters were hit by a rare league defeat against Leyton Orient last week, but responded in the perfect manner against a Diamonds side who had only lost twice this season.

But the win came after a strong half-time team talk from manager Chris Cummins, who was far from happy with side's performance in the opening
45 minutes.

Cummins said: "In the first-half we were not at it. I thought we were a shambles and we were in 'Christmas Mode' already.

"Some of them were already thinking of having a few days off and I told them at half-time that if the performance didn't improve then they would be in over Christmas.

"Thankfully we got a lot better in the second-half and we dominated the game. We should have probably had more goals then what we did, but we just didn't take our chances.

"In the first-half we were very laid back and although the boys have played a lot of games up to now, I still expect them to finish games off in the right way

"They know when they are doing things right and when they are not at it. I felt we got what we deserved against Rushden because of our second-half performance.

"You have to keep the players on their toes."

The win was more impressive due to the fact they were without the likes of top scorer Ryan Charles and Elliott Osbourne-Ricketts through injury.

Cummins added: "We have both Ryan and Elliott out through injury so we are stretched with number at the moment.

"They are two big losses for us at the moment, but it gave us a chance to try a few younger players and they did well.

"We only had the two substitutes, but it's a great chance for other players to fight for the right to play and like every manager, I want competition for places amongst my squad."