Luton Town manager Graeme Jones has said that striker Danny Hylton is progressing well on his return to full fitness following a serious knee injury.

The Hatters boss spoke about the 30-year-old forward in his pre-match press conference ahead of Luton's clash against Cardiff at Kenilworth Road this Saturday, describing Hylton as "more robust" than he was before.

“We’ve had some behind closed doors friendlies, games between ourselves, big space work and I see a lot more robust Danny Hylton. I still think he needs a little bit more, remember, he has never played in the Championship," Jones said to the club website.

“The good thing for me is that I know where Danny was in the summer, he couldn’t sustain training. Danny’s been fit for maybe seven weeks now and the programme has worked."

He added that Hylton is on the training field most days, and is showing determination to get back on the football pitch.

"We’ve had no reaction and he looks a hungry animal, we’ve just got to try and give him as many minutes on a big pitch as we possibly can which is difficult without a reserve team so it takes a little bit longer because of that."

Hylton first suffered the knee issue last season, undergoing surgery to correct the problem in April 2019.

He came back in time for pre-season, but the issue flared up once more during a friendly, resulting in a second operation on the same knee.

The 30-year-old recently returned to action in January where he featured in a midweek friendly against Beijing Renhe.

As of yet, however, no timescale has been put on his return.

QUIZ: Can you name the season in which these 14 Luton images were taken?

The Verdict

The positive news about Danny Hylton continues to come, and that is a good sign for Graeme Jones.

It is clear that he still needs to build up his match fitness and sharpness, and adjust to the rigours of Championship football.

However, it does not look long until he makes his long-awaited return for the Hatters in a competitive game.