After briefly returning for home wins against Norwich City and Preston North End, the Hatters played most of their Championship fixtures behind closed doors, and Nathan Jones hailed the return of ‘proper’ football.

“It feels like a proper game again. To see more than 3,000 fans here and they got to see a side that wanted to be front footed again, it was brilliant. It’s always good to have fans back because football without fans isn’t quite that and we love having fans here.

“We’ve got great fans, we know that, they make plenty of noise and we’re very pleased to have them back, they’ve deserved it for what they’ve done for the club over the pandemic period. It was great to see them.”

The Hatters face Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion at Kenilworth Road in their final pre-season friendly before kicking off their Championship campaign, and manager Jones expressed his delight with the squad’s progress over pre-season.

“We know we’re not the finished article yet, we’ve got a lot of players that we’ve had to integrate, but they’re taking it on board, they’re working hard, and we’ve got a great environment in terms of the quality that we’re showing.

“It’s all about gathering momentum, it’s all about getting sharp, it’s all about getting that fitness and staying injury free. We’ve probably got nine out today, in terms of nine not available for whatever reason but we’re only going to get better and that’s the pleasing thing.”