Nathan Jones makes claim regarding Luton Town’s Championship rivals

The Hatters boss believes that the club’s rivals are jealous of the team’s success as they chase promotion to the Premier League.

The side have beaten all pre-season expectations to be in the hunt for a play-off place.

This has earned the team plenty of plaudits throughout the campaign for punching above their weight.

But Jones was quick to point out the work done off the pitch that has been vital in helping the team perform so well.

The club has steered itself out of financial difficulties to bounce back into the second tier in recent seasons.

Amid those concerns, it was the trust of the coaching staff, and those who worked on the training ground, that Jones believes worked best to help the side every week.

“Structurally, we are the envy of a lot of football clubs, because ideally everyone would like to do fantastically well without spending a hell of a lot of money, but that isn’t the case in football on all levels,” said Jones, via Luton Today.

“The ones that can do it by staying within budget, by not crippling themselves in terms of financially, by not going into real massive debt, by not opening up trapdoors that if it doesn’t go right.

“They are in serious trouble, and then can align themselves with a philosophy, can align themselves with the fans, with the community, play a certain way, get results and again stay well within budget, that’s the way to run a football club.

“We do it very well and that’s not just the manager, it takes a hell of a lot of people to do that.”

Jones highlighted the work of the club’s chief executive Gary Sweet as being instrumental in Luton’s rise in recent years.

The 48-year old also praised the likes of the ground staff, catering, Peter Kemp the stadium manager and the media team for