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On Thursday morning Luton confirmed the departure of Welshman Jones, allowing him to take the reins at struggling Southampton in the Premier League after a week of very transparent communication between both clubs and supporters regarding the situation.
For a second time in just under four years, the Hatters have lost the 49-year-old to a more attractive managerial role and will have to continue to build on what has been a very successful period in the club’s history.
Jones guided Luton to an unlikely playoff berth last season in their highest league finish since their relegation from the top flight three decades ago, and has left them in ninth in the Championship heading into the final weekend before the World Cup break.
It is now the job of chief recruitment officer Mick Harford to prepare last season’s playoff semi-finalists for the visit of Rotherham, which will be played out in front of a sold-out and rowdy Kenilworth Road crowd.
Results in front of their own supporters will have to improve starting on Saturday if Luton are to earn a top-six finish this year, with Harford’s men only managing two wins in 10 matches on home turf so far this campaign.
It must be said that with a forward line consisting of Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo, there is certainly the firepower required to start earning maximum points at home more regularly and score plenty of goals in the process.
Paul Heckingbottom‘s Blades had just demolished league-leaders Burnley 5-2 three days earlier and the Millers were winless in their previous five, but Matthew Taylor‘s men put all that aside to earn victory and make the Championship standings look even more appealing to those of a Rotherham persuasion.
Rotherham moved themselves up to 14th in the second tier with that unexpected win, five points away from West Bromwich Albion who occupy the highest of the relegation places, meaning no matter the result on Saturday they will go into the international break outside the bottom three.
A season of mid-table mediocrity would do perfectly for the Yorkshire-based club, who have failed to make their second-tier status stick following promotions from League One in recent years.
The exit of Paul Warne to Derby County had the potential to derail the Millers’ survival ambitions this season, but the team are showing the ability to record wins in important moments, with results such as the one at Sheffield United boding well for their aims of Championship safety this campaign.
There is potential for Conor Washington to play some part if he gets through the next day.
“His scan results were relatively positive – it’s still with the surgeon in relation to what his plan next is over, certainly that four-week period when we’re off and have no league games per say.
“But, in terms of possible symptoms subsiding on the knee and the pains subsiding, he is the only one who’s got a chance.”
Taylor on what to expect from Luton after Jones departure…
“I think they’ll stay true to their identity, certainly what they’ve had this season which is a forward-thinking team – get the ball to their front players relatively early.
“They’re a handful as well, a very physical team.
“Anyone who’s played at Luton’s ground knows full-well how difficult it is playing there. It feels everything is on top of you; the players, the opposition fans, and the whole environment feels a close place to go to.
“We have to play well if we’re going to get anything out of the game.
“In terms of [Jones’ departure], it’s only been announced this morning. I don’t think too much will change in the space of two days – plus, they played on Tuesday just like ourselves so they won’t have had too much training time.”
Taylor on maintaining focus following Sheffield United victory…
“We have to try and back it up, back up another performance and hopefully get the result to back that up.
“Performances have generally been going – certainly what we feel – is the right direction, and it was a big three points on Tuesday night but in terms of a hangover going into the weekend, we can’t have that in our armoury.
“We have to put Tuesday to bed pretty quickly as much as we want to celebrate it. [We need to] put it to bed, understand it, learn from it, and look to better this weekend.
“It’s a really tough test because Luton away is always a really tough fixture anyway, let alone on the back of the run we’ve been on.”
Taylor on the unpredictable nature of the Championship…
“There’s a lot of drama, never a dull moment.
“We’ve not had chance to breathe and to relax and to really asses it in any detail as yet because we’ve always been preparing for what’s next, and the next opposition.
“Within this four week period, we’ll assess the first ten or eleven games.
“We’ll understand what we’ve gone through in that period, but also from the start of the season until now as well to get a better picture of this group of players and what we can achieve in the second half of the season.
“I will say that, generally, the league gets stronger in the second half of the season – there’s a lot of big clubs underperforming at this moment in time and they’ll naturally improve through new managers and new players.
“January is just around the corner, so the ones with the bigger ‘firepower’ in terms of spending more money will obviously strengthen from that point on.
“We have to understand what we are and what makes us successful, and the opposition we’ve played in the last three games – we’re not going to get tougher opposition than that.
“We have to keep on performing to give ourselves a chance.”
Taylor on the timing of the World Cup break from a personal perspective…
“From a personal perspective, certainly the family and taking care of a few bits and pieces and making sure everyone is settled, it has come at a good time.
“We are settled in the area anyway, there’s just been a relentless amount of games – that’s been the hardest thing.
“Not so much time away from the family, but just the amount of games where you’re not settled within that because you’re literally recovering, learning, preparing – that is just a continuous cycle of which we’ve done three times a week for the last ‘X’ amount of time.
“The next four weeks is going to be big, first and foremost for the players’ minds – a bit of a reset period for them – and then we have to try and get towards Bristol City with a stronger squad than we have right now.
“This squad has shown it can compete, and if we look to strengthen in the right areas and get the injured bodies back, then we will certainly be a stronger unit for it.”
Luton have a host of first-team players out with injuries ahead of this weekend’s clash, with Henri Lansbury expected to return from a hip injury after the World Cup break.
Sonny Bradley is another player who will not feature until December at the earliest after sustaining a knee injury in the first half of his side’s goalless draw against Reading at the start of the month.
World Cup-bound Ethan Horvath should return in goal for the Hatters after illness meant the American sat out of the defeat at Stoke in the week.
Rotherham striker Georgie Kelly picked up a hamstring injury eight minutes after coming on the pitch against Norwich City and will not be available until after the month-long international break.
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Fellow forward option Conor Washington may require surgery in the near future due to a knee issue, meaning Chiedozie Ogbene will lead the line for the Millers on Saturday fresh off his call-up to the Ireland squad for friendlies against Norway and Malta.
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Horvath; Bree, Lockyer, Osho; Clark, Mpanzu, Campbell, Bell, Cornick; Adebayo, Morris
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Kioso, Peltier, Humphreys, Harding, Bramall; Wiles, Lindsay, Barlaser, Rathbone; Ogbene