Smith happy to slot in at full back in Henry’s absence

Makeshift right-back Jonathan Smith was more than happy to fill the void left by Ronnie Henry following his hernia operation, writes Mark Wood.
Jonathan Smith dropped to right back against GrimsbyJonathan Smith dropped to right back against Grimsby
Jonathan Smith dropped to right back against Grimsby

With few options, boss John Still opted to play the tigerish midfielder there and Smith revealed he had experience of the position in the past.

He said: “I’ve played a couple of games there before when I was a bit younger, but I’m happy to do a job wherever I’m wanted. I will give it 100 per cent wherever I play.

“Probably people were surprised that I played there, but I’m always prepared to play so I’m just going to give it my all.”

The Hatters played some great stuff and, although Smith was disappointed they hadn’t been able to take their first half chances, he was pleased they had been able to fight back from 1-0 down.

“I thought we were unlucky not to go in leading at half time,” he said.

“(The start of the second half) was massively disappointing, I think we were adamant we were going to come out the same again. I don’t know if it was a case of us coming out slow or them coming out sharper, but it was disappointing to go 1-0 down.

“To be fair to the lads, we responded after they scored. We got the equaliser and we were pushing for a winner as well.”

Smith, 26, admitted there was a slight feeling of disappointment that Town hadn’t been able to sink the Mariners in front of the TV cameras, but they were trying to remain level-headed about their results.

He added: “Maybe (there was) a slight feeling we should have won the game, but performance-wise because the lads put in plenty of effort and were unlucky not to come away with the points, we’ve got to try and keep positive.

“Telly or no telly you’ve just got to give it your best and try and get the points for this club that’s all I think of. I didn’t really take much notice of the TV to be honest.

“We are trying not to get too low when we lose games or too high when we win games.

“The lads are desperate to do well and we showed that. We’re putting the effort in it’s just disappointing we didn’t get the three points.”

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