Joe Deeney has spoken of his pride in seeing his Luton Town Under-18 side win the EFL Youth Alliance South Division title – with top spot confirmed with Oxford United’s defeat at Portsmouth yesterday.

The Hatters youth team completed their 27-game campaign with an 8-1 thumping of Newport County last week, but Oxford still had two games to play and even though they could not match Town’s 68-point haul, if they won both they would be crowned champions on points-per-game from their 26 matches.

That possibility was erased on Tuesday afternoon with Pompey beating the U’s 2-0 in Hampshire, and Deeney – a former Town scholar and young pro himself – revealed it was a proud moment having returned to the Hatters from Dunstable Town last summer.

“I’m very proud,” the Town U18s lead coach told lutontown.co.uk. “Coming back to the club, the ultimate aim at the start of the season to make sure we won it.

“I think it was harder this year with it being over a 27 game season, as opposed to what they've done in the past, as a sort of halfway point in the South-East Division, then you join the South-West for a Merit Division.

“So it's been ups and downs throughout the season across the whole of the south. We didn’t start of the season great – we got beaten 3-0 away at Oxford, but the growth has been excellent.

“If you look at the last six weeks, we’ve scored six goals in injury time, which have been big, big moments when you actually look back and reflect on it.

“Going into injury time against Bromley 3-2 down and come back to win 4-3. Stevenage in the 92nd minute here. We had MK Dons, somehow losing 1-0 in injury time and won 2-1.

“Even last week at Forest Green, to go there and be 2-2 going into the last minute and score a late penalty, sums up really where the group’s been.”

Has Fergie-time turned into Deeney-time?

“I don’t know about that,” Joe laughs. “It’s not been good for the heart, I can tell you that. And that’s why I’m more bald than I was, but the group and all of the staff have been really good with that mentality, the spirit, never to quit.

“It’s been very difficult, especially when you knew it was going to semi-fall out of our hands, because Oxford could have actually won the division, having played a game less but on points per game.

“The players deserve a lot of credit. We’ve had to chop and change at times this year with the Under-21s needing players, and we’ve had 18s stepping up there, and the Under-16s stepping up to us – and the 16s are one win away from winning their division, too.

“We’ve got the Under-17 cup final down at Swansea on Sunday 4th May, and as I said to the players yesterday – well done, enjoy these moments because to win anything is difficult in football, but don’t now go, ‘Well that’s the season finished’.

“We want to finish the season on a positive and want to go to Swansea and win, complete the double.

“That’s the big message they’ll be getting. Don’t go ‘Oh, we won one, but had the disappointment of losing a cup final’. Let’s go and win a double, and that’ll speak volumes of the work the lads have put in. The demands have been high.”

The Town youngsters will get a special moment on Saturday when they are presented to the capacity Kenilworth Road crowd at the Coventry match.

“I’ve had a long affinity with the football club, so any time I see the club lift a trophy, you feel a great sense of pride, whether that be our Under-16s, our 21s, our first team or whoever,” Joe continued.

“Going out on the pitch on Saturday will be a nice experience for them, in front of a sell-out crowd with an intense atmosphere.

“Ultimately, I don’t want this to be the biggest achievement of their careers, and that’s the message to them – now the demands become harder and we’ve got 10 days to go until the cup final, and we are not in beach mode.

“If anything, the expectations are higher and it’ll be great for us on May 4th because what we will see is how well do they handle a big environment? How well do they handle a big stadium? A different kind of pressure?

“Hopefully by May 4th the football club will be celebrating more than just another cup final.”