Luton Town: Jack Marriott eyes JPT start at Gillingham after Pools win

Jack Marriott is hoping his latest super-sub brace will earn him a start against League One Gillingham in today’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy second round.

The 21-year-old is Town’s top goalscorer this term with six and they have all come in twos – the latest being a four-minute double in Saturday’s 4-1 League Two win at Hartlepool.

That’s made all the more impressive as he’s only started two games this season and both have come in cup competitions, though his last start against Leyton Orient in the previous round of the Football League Trophy ended in his first professional red card.

Marriott returned from suspension to score two off the bench against Wimbledon but admitted after the game that he was happy to bide his time for a starting berth and subsequently began on the bench for the last two games.

But he replaced the injured Craig Mackail-Smith before the half hour mark on Saturday and made a big impact against the Pools, which he hopes will lead to more than his current cameo roles.

Marriott said: “Depending on how Craig is and how he recovers, I’m still hoping for a start, no matter what. But if not then, given the chance, I’ll see what I can do.

“I have learnt and I continue to learn from Craig every day. It’s always disappointing to see a fellow striker go down injured. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

Hatters assistant boss Terry Harris said after the Pools game that Mackail-Smith strained his hamstring but that it didn’t appear serious. However, he’s been rested for the cup competitions anyway and assistant Harris said of ready-made replacement Marriott: “He’s very sharp. He must be a nightmare to play against because he’s on the shoulder, he’s always looking for balls behind and he can finish as well.

“I’m absolutely delighted for him. He’s a young lad and John knew what he was getting when he signed him from Ipswich and hopefully he’ll go on to bigger and better things.”

Boss John Still could also use the contest as a chance to rest some key players and get some fitness into the likes of Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu and Magnus Okuonghae.

Town head to Kent to face at Gills side who are the only team in the country’s top four divisions to have scored more goals than them (Luton have 21 and Gillingham 22) and main marksman Marriott spent time on loan last year at the east-coast club.

“I was there for a month a couple of seasons ago. It’s a good club and they’ve been doing alright this season,” he said, adding: “They’ve got a good squad down there and hopefully we can do down there and turn them over.”

Goalkeeper Mark Tyler was in equally ebullient mood as four wins on the spin in the league has made Luton the fourth tier’s form team.

The 38-year-old said: “We’ve got a difficult game on Tuesday away from the league. We want to win that game to keep the momentum going and then we play York on Saturday and we’ll be all guns blazing again.”

Olly Lee, who blasted a blockbusting fourth on Saturday – his first for the club – added: “At the minute, confidence is high and we just want to keep playing games.”