Nathan Jones hails Luton’s defensive display
Posted Sunday, May 06, 2018 by PA
Luton boss Nathan Jones hailed his side’s defensive resilience as they battled to a well-earned point at Notts County despite going down to 10 men.
Danny Hylton picked up a second yellow card early in the second half – but Luton refused to be beaten and dug deep to earn a draw.
“That’s the best 0-0 performance I’ve seen from my team,” said Jones. “From start to finish we were wonderful.
“I am not going to speak about anything else but our performance and that was a credit to the football club.
“I am amazed how we didn’t score because normally we are lethal.
“We had that many chances, that much possession and that much quality, but credit to Notts County as to how they defended.
“Even when we went down to 10 men we were absolutely superb and to be fair there was a touch of class from Notts County.
“I expected that from them and their manager. Kevin Nolan has a bit of class about him. He understands the game and that has rubbed off on his football club.”
Backed by more than 4,000 fans, the promoted Hatters looked lively early on with Olly Lee forcing Adam Collin into a save with a powerful 20-yard drive.
But Notts, already guaranteed of a play-off place, had their moments with Jon Stead having a shot deflected behind for a corner while James Shea also saved from Jorge Grant.
The Magpies’ hopes of a victory then appeared to be boosted early in the second half when Hylton picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Shaun Brisley.
Only a fantastic last-ditch tackle from Matt Tootle denied Pelly Ruddock-Mpanzu from making the breakthrough at the expense of a corner.
“It was an enjoyable game for the fans because there were lots of chances and plenty of oohs and aahs,” said Notts County manager Kevin Nolan.
“But I am delighted we got the clean sheet and I always thought it was going to be a tough game no matter what.
“We created chances although I thought we could put them under more pressure when they went down to 10 men.
“That’s something we can work on, but overall it was a good positive result to take into the play-offs.
“It was important that we got a result in that respect and I thought the way we bounced back from defeat to Grimsby was good.
“I love clean sheets and we’ve got one and that bodes well for the next couple of weeks.
“It’s been a fantastic 46 games and we’ve got two games now in a knockout competition and we’ve got to be better than Coventry over 180 minutes.
“If we are then I feel we will be going to Wembley.”
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