Luton Town have enjoyed a strong campaign in the Championship this season and the Hatters have been able to enjoy a comfortable mid-table finish in the English second tier.  

Nathan Jones’ side were only just about able to survive the drop in the Championship in their first season back in the English second tier in 2019/20.

However, this time around things have been a lot different and they have been able to show that they are more than good enough to hold their own at this level.

The task now will be for them to build on their top half finish and make the right sort of changes to their squad in the transfer window to help them potentially challenge even further up the Championship table. That is something that will not be easy, but it does you feel have to the ambition for the Hatters.

With the season having now come to a close, we take a look at nine things we have clearly learnt about the Hatters this term…

At the start of the campaign, there would have been some legitimate concerns over Luton’s number one keeper Simon Sluga. The Hatters paid a sizeable transfer fee to bring him into the club at the start of the 2019/20 campaign. However, he struggled at times and made a few major mistakes throughout the season. In total, he made six errors leading to goals and kept just six clean sheets.

This term, Sluga has been a completely different player and has shown he just needed a season to get to grips with life in the English second tier. The 28-year-old has perhaps gone under the radar in terms of his improvements, but he has finished the campaign with double the clean sheets he managed last term and also having cut out the errors.

There are reasons to believe that Sluga is going to be able to maintain that kind of form for the Hatters into next season. There might have been cause to potentially bring in another number one choice between the sticks this summer had he not improved this season, but that is something that will not be needed now.

There would have been very little attention paid from those outside of both Luton and Walsall when the move that saw forward Elijah Adebayo make the switch to Kenilworth Road was completed in January. However, it is a deal that has proven to be a very smart one by the Hatters and it seems they could have a genuine talent on their hands.

Adebayo had managed to fire in ten goals in his 25 League Two appearances for Walsall in the first half of the campaign, and that was enough to convince Nathan Jones’ side to take a chance on him. Since he arrived at Kenilworth Road, the 23-year-old has been able to provide a real extra attacking threat for the Hatters and he has fired in five goals in his 18 Championship games.

Having now had the second half of this season to adapt to life in the English second tier, there is every reason to suggest that Adebayo could emerge as a real threat to defences at this level next term. He seems to be full of belief in his own abilities and is not afraid to get shots off in and around the penalty area.

Undoubtedly one of the major lessons we have learnt from this season concerning Luton is that midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has shown he could make it right to the top of the game. He has proven to be one of the best signings of the campaign in the Championship with his brilliant performances during his loan spell from Leicester City.

Dewsbury-Hall has shown that he has star quality in possession and can make things happen in the final third with his progressive passing. The 22-year-old managed to average 1.7 key passes and 1.2 shots per game in the Championship this term and also weighed in with three goals and six assists for the Hatters.

Leicester have a track record recently of giving their younger players chances to impress and next season Dewsbury-Hall must surely be someone that they look to hand opportunities to. If he can continue to improve and develop his game and repeat the displays he has done for the Hatters, then there is no reason why he can not go to the highest level with his parent club.

Given James Collins’ importance to the Hatters in the last few seasons, it seems strange that it would even need to be mentioned that he is a player that Luton should be doing all they can to keep hold of. However, the forward’s existing deal is due to come to an end and he could be set to depart Kenilworth Road on a free transfer.

Unsurprisingly the potential availability of a forward who has registered 24 goals in the Championship in the last two campaigns has attracted reported interest from elsewhere. Preston North End and Derby County have been the two sides linked with a potential move for him in the summer.

Collins’ performances this season have shown that he still has a lot to offer for the Hatters, he has been their go-to player for goals once again and proven to be their most important striker. The 30-year-old has already indicated that he would be happy to remain at Kenilworth Road. With decisions likely to be made on the futures of certain players in the coming weeks, surely they have to offer him a new deal.

Like Collins, Sonny Bradley has also reminded Luton of his importance to the side with his performances for them throughout the campaign. The defender is also set to see his current deal with the Hatters come to an end in the next few weeks and is therefore facing an uncertain period in his career.

Bradley is a player that will attract the attentions of other clubs and he has already been linked with a potential move to Preston North End. The experienced defender has been in strong form this term to show he can perform at Championship level. He has helped them record 12 clean sheets and averaged 1.4 interceptions and 4.7 clearances per game, while also winning 5.7 duels per match.

The defender has recently suggested that he knows conversations will take place between himself and the club now that the campaign has come to an end. It would surely be a major oversight for the Hatters to allow him to leave the club on a free transfer.

One of the other important things that has been learnt about Luton this season is that manager Nathan Jones has demonstrated his evolution as coach.

During the first half of the 2019/20 campaign, he was under intense scrutiny at Stoke City and was guilty of trying to persist with a diamond midfield set-up despite not having the players to suit that approach.

Since his return to Luton last term, following his sacking by Stoke, Jones has managed to show much greater tactical flexibility. There have been times where he has not been afraid to mix things up with his approach to matches and with his usage of certain players. That has very much been to the benefit of the Hatters and allowed them to pose problems to most of their opponents.

Jones is someone that is highly regarded by Luton and he has shown that his spell at Stoke has made him a stronger more rounded manager. There is no reason why the Hatters should not continue to make progress next season under a coach that continues to evolve and get better with his decision making.

Another obvious lesson that has been learnt about Luton this season has been that they have become a much more solid team. They have been a much harder proposition to play against than they were in the first campaign back in the Championship.

In 2019/20, Luton shipped 82 league goals in their 46 matches and that was a total that was beaten only by Hull City who finished that campaign bottom of the table. The Hatters would have known that a repeat of that this term would have likely ended up with them suffering relegation back down to League One.

Jones has managed to find a way for them to be much more solid this time around, as a result, they have shipped 30 less goals and number one keeper Simon Sluga has recorded double the amount of clean sheets.

The Hatters though have scored fewer goals with 41 netted, compared with 54 in 2019/20 as a consequence of being less open. That perhaps is the next evolution for them to make, to become more of an attacking threat without going back to shipping so many goals.

Another potential lesson we have learnt about Luton this season is that they are potentially just a couple of quality signings away from being outside contenders for the top-six next term.

Jones’ side have already shown this term that on their day they can be a match for anyone in the division, wins against four of the top-six in Watford, Norwich City, Bournemouth and Barnsley this season tell as much. The difference over a full term has been their lack of individual quality compared with the teams above them at key moments in games.

The Hatters will need to add more goals to their team and also replace the influential presence of Dewsbury-Hall. However, the successful signings of the likes of Adebayo, Kai Naismith and Dewsbury-Hall show that they can identify the right players in the transfer market.

If they can address key areas with quality arrivals, then there is no reason they can not do a Barnsley and defy the odds next term by reaching or being very close to the top-six.

The final lesson we have learnt concerning Luton this season is that forward Sam Nombe is potentially facing an uncertain future now in his career. That comes with him having failed to live up to expectations during his loan spell with the Hatters from League One MK Dons.

Nombe arrived at Kenilworth Road in the summer and looked like he could be an exciting potential addition to Jones’ squad. The 22-year-old had managed to score two goals and register two assists in just 11 starts in the English third tier in 2019/20. However, he has not managed to force his way into the side at Luton and managed to make just 11 goalless appearances for the Hatters in the league.

When the forward was initially signed last summer, it was thought to be with a view to a potential permanent deal this summer. However, that will be highly unlikely to happen now, and he could be facing a really uncertain future now when he returns to Stadium MK.