Manager Nathan Jones is relishing the opportunity to reacquaint himself with the Kenilworth Road faithful should permission be granted to allow 2,000 fans back into the ground.
Following news that Luton will placed in Tier 2 restrictions when the national lockdown ends on Wednesday 2nd December, the day the Hatters host Norwich City at Kenilworth Road, the gaffer was subject to plenty of questions about the potential for fans to return during this afternoon’s pre-Cardiff City Press conference.
Chief Executive Gary Sweet has explained that a process still needs to be followed before Kenilworth Road can be reopened for spectators, saying: "Luton is designated as Tier 2 - fantastic. This means we can potentially allow 2,000 supporters in for next Wednesday's Norwich match.
"However, before we can definitively do this, we need the approval of the SAG (Safety Advisory Group), the SGSA (Sports Grounds Safety Authority), PHE (Public Health England) and the EFL, and it is very possible that one of them could claim that the numbers in and around Kenilworth Road are so high risk that we can't comply."
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Asked about the possibility of fans being back in the ground for the first time since his return to the club in May, the gaffer responded: “In principle that’s wonderful news, and if that’s confirmed and we can get all the processes in place, that means 2,000 fans can come back into the stadium which will be a wonderful, wonderful start.
"We know it’s only a start and we know at the minute, it's only a small light at the end of the tunnel, but at least it is a light. So let's wait for confirmation before we get too euphoric, but it definitely is a step in the right direction.”
Should the relevant authorities deem it okay for the Kenny to welcome fans back through its doors, it would be the first time a home crowd will be present since February against Stoke City.
“It will mean a lot for me,” Jones added. “A full house at Kenilworth Road is what we really, really want, because it’s a great atmosphere and I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself with the Luton faithful.”
However, immediate attention is on Saturday’s away match against Cardiff, which presents the opportunity to extend the teams’ unbeaten run to five matches in the Sky Bet Championship.
“Neil Harris did a wonderful job last year, got them in the play-offs. The Championship is one of those things, someone told me once that you don’t have to do a hell of a lot different in the Championship to go four unbeaten or to get four or five defeats on the spin because it is that type of league.
“Neil is experienced, they are not in a precarious position in anyway shape or form, far more teams in precarious positions, plus he brought himself a little bit of leeway because he has done fantastic work there.
“There's never a good time to play Cardiff, especially away, because they’re a tough side to play. They have got experienced Championship players, a lot with Premier League experience so it’s a tough, tough game.
“Not sure it’s a good time, bad time or anything to play them. It’s a Championship game and the Championship is never an easy ride in anyway shape or form.”
The league table is starting to take place after 13 matches and ahead of a tricky and busy winter period, the gaffer is hoping his team will continue to put their stamp on the division.
“We don’t just want to get results. Now we want to impact and to start putting our stamp on the Championship.
"That’s a bold, bold statement and others may listen to that and think, ‘What are they on about? These should be down the bottom’.
“But it’s about what we want to do. We don’t care about anything else. We don’t look outside of the four walls we have here, outside Bedfordshire, for example. We want to evolve into what we want to evolve into, and that’s constant work.
“We’ll have to take some punches on the chin and punches on the nose, but we’re going to ride them and come back stronger and stronger because we’ve had a good bit of experience at the level. But, now, we want to have more than experience.”
