Luton boss Jones to Southampton 'not a done deal'

Nathan Jones guided Luton Town to the Championship play-offs last season

Luton Town boss Nathan Jones says he will speak to Southampton about their managerial vacancy on Wednesday, but has insisted that a move to the Premier League club is "not a done deal".

Luton have given Southampton permission to speak with the 49-year-old after the Saints sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl on Monday.

"I've got a wonderful relationship with everyone at the football club," said Jones. "These things sometimes happen.

"I've had a number of enquiries during my six years at Luton [across two spells as manager] but I've always loved my relationship with everyone.

"I hope the fans understand why I'm going for the chat because it's a different world in the Premier League. I want to be there one day, whether that's with Luton or with someone else.

"It's just an opportunity to go and chat and to find out if it is right for me.

"This is a wonderful project we have here, with great people from top to bottom who give me absolutely everything, and that's going to be tough to leave."

Early goals give much-changed Potters victory

Up against a Stoke team he managed for almost 10 months in 2019, Jones' side conceded twice inside the first 13 minutes - both goals coming from left-wing crosses by Morgan Fox.

Nick Powell arrived late in the box to head in the opener before Tom Lockyer, under pressure from Liam Delap, diverted into his own net.

Luton missed chances to reply, with striker Carlton Morris shooting straight at Potters goalkeeper Jack Bonham before half-time and an unmarked Lockyer hitting the post from eight yards after the interval.

• Relive Tuesday's EFL action as it happened

Stoke manager Alex Neil responded to Saturday's home loss to Birmingham by making six changes to his starting XI and his overhaul of the line-up had the desired effect, with victory moving the Potters into mid-table.

Among the additions was centre-back Harry Souttar, who made his first start for the Potters in 367 days after recovering from a serious knee injury sustained while on international duty with Australia.

Souttar was named in the Socceroos' 26-man World Cup squad earlier on Tuesday.

Neil told BBC Radio Stoke: "I'm happy with the result. The result was the most important thing today.

"The batch of last home games have been extremely frustrating for everyone. It was important we didn't give any cheap goals away and it was important we got our noses in front early.

"It wasn't a great game but I thought there were two moments of quality; the two crosses from Morgan Fox, a great header from Nick for the first one and great movement from Liam for the second one, and that was the difference in the game."