Howells relishes more advanced position as the Hatters lay down a marker

The Wales U21 international played in the number 10 role behind the main striker when he came in the second half and netted Town’s second goal in their 2-0 triumph.

And he relished the opportunity, saying: “I played there for Wales and England C so I’m not incapable of playing there.

“The gaffer just chucked me in there and said can you play there and I said I’d give it a go and the gaffer said I did OK Saturday and today I went on there and got a goal so it was OK in there.

“You can literally do what you want in that position. You get the freedom of playing anywhere and we’ve got the players round us to feed you.

“So long as I back up whoever’s playing up front then that’s all my job is.”

Tinkerman John Still was also pleased his experimentation had paid off, saying: “I played him off the front and I think he can do that job. I just have a feeling that’s a good job he can do. Experimental.”

But Still believes he has more strings to his bow and believes Howells could still usurp David Martin on the left wing, saying: “He’ll probably start wide left on Saturday and let’s see if he’s better than Dave Martin and give Dave Martin a problem.”

A number of Town players missed out with slight knocks and, although last season’s top performer Alex Lawless remains close to fitness, he will be sidelined for another week after hurting his knee in the warm-up at Maidenhead United at the weekend.

On the injuries, Still continued: “Nothing terrible. Probably of them all, Alex Lawless, who would have played on Saturday, just jarred his knee probably another week. The others will all be training this week.”

Few would have expected Town to overturn Villa 2-0 on the night, but Howells believes the performance has laid down a ‘marker’ for Town’s stars to live up to.

He said: “It sets a marker definitely. When the teams in the league look at the friendly results everyone’s going to say 2-0 Luton.

“People are going to look at it and they’ve got to watch themselves this season. Everyone’s together and we’re looking well.

“We don’t want to get too excited and we don’t want to get too down when we lose games, we lost to Boreham Wood, we don’t want to get too down about it, it’s only pre-season and there’s still a long way to go.

“We are going to go into each game trying to win the game and work as hard as we can, but at the moment we’re still trying to get sharp and we are going to get to where we need to be by the time the season starts.”

Level-headed defender Steve McNulty concurred and is refusing to get carried away by their pre-season form.

He said: “You can win every game in pre-season and get beat that first six or seven games, you can’t look too much, no medals are given out in July, the medals are given out at the end of the season.

“It’s all about getting you fit and sharpness and we need to turn this place into a fortress this year.”

And although the stocky defender is not a fan of pre-season, he appreciates how professionally run it’s been this summer.

“It’s a nightmare!” he joked. “If a footballer claims to like pre-season he would by lying. No-one likes to do it but it’s just one of them things that is part and parcel of being a professional footballer.

“You’ve got to come back, you’ve got to do the running, no-one likes running about just willy-nilly, we all like to get hold of the ball and kick a ball.

“But it’s all been good this year, it’s been structured and he’s been around for a lot of years the gaffer and you think he’s old school but he’s got a good fitness coach and coaches behind him and all his training is structured and power running and stuff.

“You don’t run for more than 10 or 12 minutes so it’s all good stuff, you’re getting into you’re legs and now we just need to start playing more games.”

Howells has also found it tough, but appreciates the good it’s done for Town’s stars.

He said: “Physically I think it’s probably the hardest I’ve done personally, but after you do it you of course you feel very good about it and your body feels good about it.

“But there’s still two and a bit weeks left and we’ve still got a lot to work on, a lot of sharpness, but everyone’s fitness levels are as high as I’ve seen in a long while and everyone’s worked so hard and everyone deserves their reward like tonight.”

The Hatters boast a much-changed squad compared to when Still took over and Howells believes everyone is knitting together well.

He added: “There was a lot of new players like every season at this club, but everyone’s gelled together and everyone’s come together as a team and a unit - that’s one of the main things the gaffer can do bring a team together and so far it’s working.

“We’re looking well and I can’t wait for the first game of the season.”