Nathan Jones: My Luton players delivered the three key things we asked them to deliver at Millwall

Nathan Jones revealed he asked his Luton players to deliver three key things in their match against Millwall – and added that they fulfilled them in their 2-0 victory against Millwall.

A brace from Harry Cornick gave the Hatters all three points in South London. Jed Wallace had the chance to halve the deficit but his penalty was saved by Simon Sluga with eight minutes remaining.

Jones said: “We asked for three things today. We said win the battle. We said be bold and brave, because if you come to Millwall you have to be bold and brave because if you’re not the crowd get up and their tails go up. And then be clinical. They were the three things I asked for, and we were today.

“At times we took the sting out of the game, the crowd wasn’t an extra man for them because of how we played. We moved the ball really well. We hit the bar, we had some glorious chances.

“They had one chance really ,which was the penalty, which you’d expect him to score. But apart from that we thoroughly deserved the win and I don’t mean to be disrespectful but as an away side coming into it, the way we worked, pressed, the way we defended our box, the way we moved the ball and the opportunities that we created. It’s always tight games against Millwall, but I felt we deserved it.

“It could’ve been a turning point [if Wallace scores the penalty]. But I don’t imagine we would’ve lost the game, it just would’ve made it a little bit more hairy going into the final five-six minutes.”

The Hatters hadn’t defeated the Lions at The Den since 1999, but finally broke that record with a win today.

Jones added: “Someone said to me the other day, we like trampling on history, we like doing that and we’ve done that again. It’s a difficult place to come, at whatever stage Millwall are in their season or whatever league they’re in. This is always a difficult place to come.

“The crowd, the area demands a certain level of commitment and desire that makes it constantly difficult to come here. I came here as a player many times and loved it because it tested me against Neil Harris and Gary Alexander. I loved it, it tested me as a player and that’s what we’ve done today.

“A year ago we came here and got bullied at key moments. Every time they had a set-play they looked like scoring, every time they had a set-play today they didn’t. We made first contacts, and you won’t get a bigger side than that. You won’t get a bigger box than that in world football. We were excellent in handling that.

“It’s a good place to come this. It’s a tough place to come, the fans are tough. If you wilt or you’re a little bit scared or a shrinking violet then you’ll go under here. My players got tested today, a year ago I’m not sure they stood up to it, but today they did.”