Jones signs new long-term deal as Luton boss

The 43-year-old, who was appointed back in January 2016, had penned an initial deal which was due to expire at the end of next season.

However, the club have offered him a new deal for the rest of this term and the next three too, as chief executive Gary Sweet told the Luton official website: “The board are thoroughly delighted to receive Nathan’s acceptance to our offer of a longer term contract. It was such an easy and natural progression step for us to take.

“We are very lucky to have a top class coach rapidly becoming a top class manager and one who lives, breathes and helps develop our culture, our methodologies and one who is passionately intent on helping us achieve our ambitions whilst he achieves his.

“We’re more than content with the progress Nathan has made since agreeing to join us a little over a year ago and both he and the squad will continue to improve greatly the more time he has with that evolutionary process.

“This new deal further establishes us as a stable club which is only going in one direction.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a Luton fan with our promotion hopes alive and kicking and ambitions steadily being realised on and off the pitch with Nathan’s commitment being a vital component.

Meanwhile, Jones himsef said: “I’m delighted to commit my future to Luton Town. It’s a club that’s been very good to me and I’m very proud to be manager.

“I think we’ve had a fantastic 14-15 months, and to know that the club has that much faith in me that they’ve given me the length of contract and rewarded me in that way is a good feeling.

“I think we’ve shown faith in each other. They’ve shown faith in me that they believe I can do the job that I believe I can do, and I believe that this is the club that I can do it at.

“I love the club, I love our fans and I love the players I’ve got. We are in a real good place at the minute, but it’s only a start.

“We want to develop, we want to improve and take the club forward on all levels, and we’ve made big strides in a year. Now it’s about making the next step and then even bigger strides.

“I’ve got a great relationship with the board – especially Gary Sweet, who I’d like to thank for the faith he shows in me and for the constant support I get – and it’s a club I love managing.

“Right throughout the club there are wonderful people and I’m very proud to be asked to guide them on the football side.”

With nine games to go, Hatters can still go up automatically this season, sitting six points behind Portsmouth with a game in hand at Newport County tomorrow night.

Jones wants to be managing in League One next term, while he also pointed to the progress the club was making off the field too, adding: “That was the goal when I came here, within a year and a half to be a League One club and for that to be the first step on the road,”

“We want to get to a certain level and we want to get there in our time by planning the right way. We are right on schedule.

“We’ve got a fantastic facility we are soon to move into for training every day at The Brache.

“We’ve got planning applications in for developments that will change this town and area for the better. The stadium at Power Court will be so good it is winning awards before it’s even built.

“I’m very proud and honoured to be given the opportunity to manage Luton Town, and even more so now to be able to do that for the foreseeable future. I want to be the manager that leads the club into a wonderful new era.”