Luton boss Nathan Jones hailed match-winner Harry Cornick after he came off the bench to score the crucial goal in the 1-0 victory at Cardiff.
Jones revealed post-match he had given Cornick a breather after the 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Good Friday “because he had been working so hard for so little reward”.
But he was full of praise for his efforts after taking over from the injured James Bree in the 43rd minute.
Jones said: “It was a stunning header from Harry and I’m so pleased for him. We pulled him out of the starting line-up for the game because he had been working so hard for so little reward.
“Every time he does come on, he seems to score. Ironically, he scored the winner coming off the bench the last time we were in Wales at Swansea and he did exactly the same.”
The Hatters ended the game in fourth place and Jones also praised the experienced Robert Snodgrass for his efforts.
It was his pin-point cross in the 71st minute that led to the Cornick header for the only goal.
Jones added: “He did the same for us against Millwall. He gives us wonderful delivery and experience.
“He has never relied on pace or athleticism. It’s always been about craft and guile and that’s what we needed.
“The games are getting tougher, not just because they are Championship games but because we are losing players. We have got 10 players injured, eight central midfield players out and we are patching everything up.
“People are having to go through big, big shifts. We dug deep, kept a clean sheet and defended our box and then converted one of our chances.”
Cardiff manager Steve Morison was bitterly disappointed at seeing his side lose a 12th home league game of the season and criticised some of his younger players.
He said: “We are driving them every day. We have to drive a hell of a lot more than we should have to but that’s not going to change until we change the group and we get a more balanced group.
“Unfortunately, the world we are in nowadays, the young players don’t say a word. They just play football.
“We need more players around them that can drive them and keep pushing it so it doesn’t have to come from the staff every day.
“It was very quiet out there – I think you could hear us more than you could hear anyone else.
“We are just not stopping giving them information. When it’s noisy, like I have just said to them in there, you need to pick yourself up.
“We are going to Bramall Lane at the weekend. That’s not going to be so quiet and we won’t be able to talk you through the game so work it out yourselves.
“We need to keep driving them and hopefully once we change the group, we will have to do it that less.”
