Manager Nathan Jones admits he feels the club is moving in the right direction but knows nothing has been achieved after the first 12 matches of the season.
Reflecting this afternoon on the Hatters’ impressive start to the campaign, in 10th place heading into tomorrow’s match against Birmingham City, the gaffer is keen to keep pushing.
“We’re in a decent place, top half of the table, closer to the top than we are to any of the relegation places so that is the first minor thing. We have to make sure we continue that because there is only 12 games gone and nothing has been achieved yet. If we continue in this vein and this form we have shown over the last 21 games, then we showed we are growing as a club.”
The fixture against the Blues could be a particularly special occasion for Luke Berry, who if selected, would make his 100th appearance for the Town.
There was plenty Nathan was keen to say about the midfielder and didn’t downplay his contribution to the club since he joined from Cambridge United in 2017.
“He’s been absolutely magnificent, we brought him in as a goalscoring midfielder, he was the highest goalscoring midfielder in the lower leagues and that’s why we bought him in.
“He was a marquee signing at the time, but someone we had an eye on always being able to play in the Championship and he’s proving that. Again same conversation we had about Sonny Bradley, Matty Person, people like that, we recruited these in League Two and they are now still producing in the Championship.
“It just rubber stamps our recruitment process, rubber stamps the eye we had on people and just so, so delighted as he’s a great lad, trains brilliantly, done well at every level, picked up an injury which set him back a little bit, but came back even stronger and delighted that he's ours."
Continuing, the manager said said: “It shows great character, shows the medical department, shows the work we put into them, and shows a real desire of the lad to do well.
“We love him here, he’s done fantastically well for us, never, ever lets me down and to be honest with you, over-exerts himself to the maximum for me, we love him here, we have since we brought him in and he’s a key member of everything we do.
“We want him to get goals as we paid real good money for him at the time, the board really backed our judgement on that and paid a lot of money for a League Two side to bring in someone like Luke and he’s repaid that as he’s scored goals at every level he’s been at and that’s the good thing.
“He’s an all-round midfielder, he does a lot of things, but he’s also brilliant around the place and excellent in the changing room.
“We didn't just sign a really good player for us, we signed a wonderful human being and that has enabled us to move forward as a club.”
As the days darken and the floodlights illuminate at the Kenny, the desire to have fans back in the ground is there for all to see, as the gaffer himself pointed out.
“Fans help. A full house, under the lights at the Kenny really does help and we do miss that but we do like playing night games there.
“It’s one of the traditional football grounds that’s wonderful to play in. We really do miss our fans, because they love the night games as well. That’s not to say they don’t love the Saturday games, but the night games really are special and we’ve had some fantastic results and hopefully we can continue that.”
