Luton Town manager 'burned table tennis table' to help players focus

'It was far easier to burn the table tennis table'

Luton Town boss Nathan Jones joked that he 'burned the players' table tennis table' to help them focus on becoming better players. Jones, who is currently in his second spell in charge at Luton, is hoping to end the club's 30-year top-flight absence by getting promoted to the Premier League. The 48-year-old guided the Hatters to promotion from League Two back in 2018, before leaving Kenilworth Road to become Stoke manager. However, his time at the bet365 Stadium didn't quite go to plan. During his time away from the club, the Bedfordshire outfit he left secured a second-straight promotion. The Welshman returned to Luton 18 months later, and is now leading the Championship club to a surprise push for Premier League promotion. His efforts at Luton have not gone unnoticed, as he picked up the manager of the season accolade at Sunday's English Football League awards ceremony.

'We have no superstars' - Jones

Despite their impressive campaign, none of the Hatters' players made it into the team of the year - but Jones believe that is actually one of the reasons behind the club's success. Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio, he said: "We have no superstars and we have a group of players that want to achieve something - they are nowhere near their ceiling. "Outside Luton, everyone would have thought this is a huge, huge surprise, that it couldn't be done - but inside we had that confidence that we could push boundaries this year.