Luton boss has his say on Kioso’s MK Dons loan

Luton Town manager Nathan Jones feels MK Dons might be the right place for Peter Kioso to stay this season, but only if he plays regularly.

With the Hatters sitting pretty in the Championship at the moment, Jones called Kioso back to train with his side before Dons’ trip to Accrington Stanley last weekend, before returning to Stadium MK.

The Welshman was also in the crowd on Tuesday night for the win over AFC Wimbledon, but only saw Kioso in the closing after replacing Tennai Watson from the bench.

Having played five games for Luton at the start of the season, Kioso was a surprise availability for Dons to capture in the summer transfer window for supporters of both clubs. And after four goals and three assists this season, Jones’ words about the potential for recalling Kioso during this window will be music to Dons’ fan’s ears.

“We’ll only recall him if he’s going to feature for us as he’s doing quite well at MK,” he said. “It has been a decent loan for him there, so if he’s going to impact on us then we have to make a decision soon, so we will make that decision when we have to.

“Sooner or later we’re going to have to see if he can play in our first team. He came back in for three days training last week and then we let him go back out and play two games for MK. I went to watch him play on Tuesday night, but he was on the bench which was a bit baffling, so that might contribute to the decision, if he’s only going to play in certain games then we’re better off keeping him here.”

Asked whether he felt Kioso could make the step up to Championship football, Jones said: “I think defensively yes, he can step up and be a good defender for us. He has to improve as he’s got, contrary to some opinions, he’s got some very good people ahead of him, or competition from very good people, athletic ones that can defend and want to defend and then do the other side as well.

“He has to grow, he has to develop, he has to improve certain attributes, but he wants to do that as he’s a real good pro and we like him in terms of that.”