Luton manager Nathan Jones insisted he did not intend to show “malice or disrespect” after Cardiff counterpart Steve Morison accused him of lacking decorum following the Hatters’ 2-1 win in the Welsh capital.
The two managers were involved a touchline spat at the final whistle with Morison unhappy that Rhondda-born Jones, a self-proclaimed Cardiff fan, celebrated victory before turning in his direction to shake hands.
Jones said: “It was literally five or six seconds after the final whistle when I was emotional. One of my staff shook his hand before I did, then I did.
“I was overjoyed, winning at my boyhood club. That sometimes gets the better of you, but no malice or disrespect was meant.
“If I’ve upset anyone I don’t mean to. I do 14 hours a day, I’m a passionate guy and sometimes I get carried away. If I’ve offended anyone I apologise.”
Morison was furious with Jones’ reaction at the final whistle, saying: “I just asked if he could have a little bit of decorum, do the celebrating afterwards.
“Shake your opponent’s hand, say ‘well done’, then go do a lap of honour, I don’t really care.”
When asked what Jones said to him in response, Morison said: “‘Who are you? It’s just about winning’.
“I think you do the respect stuff at the start and the end, I would never do that (what Jones did).”
Luton took control of the game in the second half with Luke Freeman and Gabriel Osho both volleying home.
Romaine Sawyers halved the deficit five minutes from time, but Luton held on to move into ninth spot after a tricky start to the season.
“I wasn’t really worried but we wanted to kick-start everything.” said Jones, who guided Luton into the Sky Bet Championship play-offs last season.
“We’ve had less time than everyone to prepare because of the play-offs and had a really disjointed pre-season.
“We’ve bedded in new players and had seven players injured, so there hasn’t been too much wrong. We’re two or three points worse off than we should be, so it’s not the end of the world.”
Cardiff had gone seven hours of football without scoring before Sawyers struck and Morison hopes to sign a striker before the transfer window closes on Thursday.
Revealing that Cardiff missed out on Ellis Sims and Liam Delap, who made respective loan moves to Sunderland and Stoke, Morison said: “We have been close. We just haven’t got one.
“We are working as hard as anyone in the Football League to bring someone in. If we do, then great, if not then we crack on because that is life.”
