‘Magnificent win’ at Norwich leaves Luton boss Nathan Jones proud

Luton manager Nathan Jones hailed a “magnificent win” after a second-half strike from Carlton Morris secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Norwich at Carrow Road.

The Hatters, who were helped by a red card for home midfielder Kenny McLean just after their goal, were good value for a victory which extended their unbeaten run to seven games and took them to fourth in the Championship table.

“I am very proud of the lads – they are a wonderful group and we are in a really good place at the moment,” said Jones.

“It was a magnificent win against a good side and now we are unbeaten in seven, which is a great achievement in any league and especially in the Championship, given the relentless nature of it.

“I thought we could have been better in possession tonight and didn’t create as much as I would have liked but I thought our defending was excellent, which it has to be when you come to a place like this.”

The match was decided by a well taken 62nd-minute strike by former Norwich striker Morris, who never made the grade at Carrow Road and registered only one appearance for the first team.

Morris picked up a loose ball 10 yards inside the City half and put his strength and pace to good use as he burst into the box and turned Grant Hanley before burying a low shot into the bottom corner.

Any hopes the Canaries had of getting back into the game were handed what proved to be a fatal blow when they reduced to 10 men just four minutes later.

When the ball came over from a home corner McLean grappled with Tom Lockyer and caught the Luton defender in the face with his hand, prompting referee Oliver Langford to swiftly brandish a red card.

Norwich battled away bravely after that, with Teemu Pukki curling a good opportunity just wide late on, but the visitors held on for the win.

Jones paid tribute to the match-winner, adding; “We knew what we were getting when we brought Carlton to this football club and he is maturing into a really good player.

“He gets his goals, creates them for other people and he can get even better. I think he has found a good home here.”

Norwich manager Dean Smith insisted his mis-firing side, who have now lost three games on the trot, were hard done by on the night.

“It was one of those games when you think the world is against you,” he said.

“I thought we had control of the game tonight, knocked the ball around well but we just struggled in the final third, our final pass was often lacking.

“We had some good chances over the course of the game – I just felt we had enough good players out there to open them up.

“My feeling is one of total frustration. We have now lost three on the spin and although we deserved to get beaten at Watford I thought we deserved to win the other two (against Preston and Luton tonight).”

Smith also felt his side were unlucky to lose McLean to a red card.

“I have had a look at it and it is not a fist, Kenny was being held and he tried to push their player away and maybe caught him on the neck or somewhere around there. In my opinion it should not have been a sending off,” he said.