Having been at the club for six weeks, on loan defender James Bree feels he has settled in well to life at Luton Town.
After joining on transfer deadline back in August from Aston Villa for the 2019/20 campaign, Bree has made seven appearances for the Hatters, playing across the back four and he feels he has adapted well to Graeme Jones’ coaching methods and style of play.
“I have always been able to play across the back four, obviously wherever the gaffer needs me to play I am willing to play,” he explained.
“In this day and age, as a player you have got to be ready to play any style, some like to play out from the back, some don’t want to take any risks. Coming through at Barnsley when I was younger we always used to train playing out.
“Getting into the first team it changed a little bit because results are more important at that level, but the gaffer is really straight-forward here in that he wants to play out from the back and he wants the lads to be playing football and I am comfortable whatever he has asked of me. Possession-based football is the best way to win games nowadays and if we carry on doing what we’re doing, it’s going to work out for us in the long run.
“I am 100 per cent enjoying working with the gaffer. Coming in, training everyday and really learning what he wants to do in the game, it’s helping me a lot.
“The fact he has worked with world class talent reflects in his training. Everyone wants to be at that level and whether we’re going to get there or not is another case! But if he can get us training like the top players train, then that is going to help us in the long run.”
The 21-year-old believes the run in the team has helped him settle in with the squad, having played in all three of the Town’s consecutive victories against Barnsley, Cardiff and Huddersfield, before the defeat to QPR.
He said: “Since I have come here, the lads have been really welcoming. Once I got into the team and played a couple of games, that really helped me settle in, they get to know you better. I think playing the four or five games on the bounce has gone a long way to helping that settling in process.
“It’s a really good group of lads and obviously two promotions in the past two seasons, the morals are right in the team, everyone is pushing each other to do better, I think that can only make me improve and hopefully the team can improve with that.
“Everyone who is close to me knows, once I have got a run in the team, that’s when I play my best football. At Villa I haven’t had the opportunity to play ten or 20 games on the bounce and get my fitness and confidence up and start playing well. Hopefully I can do that this season and we can start pushing up the league.”
Bree came close to opening his goalscoring account for the Hatters in the game against the Tykes, only to see Jacob Butterfield beat him to the ball and fire into the bottom left corner.
“One-thousand per cent [I thought I would score]!” He continued. “I nearly scored afterwards when Collo tapped it in, I thought I had scored and that would have been my first professional goal – that would have been a big one being back at Barnsley.
“Especially that first chance though, I was ready to hit it, but I have seen Butts and I thought, if I try and go for this he is going to boot my leg off! I thought I would pull out of the effort right at the last second and thank god I did because he tucked it into the bottom bins. It was worth it.”