League One leaders Luton Town are the ‘best footballing’ side in the division according to Fleetwood Town’s Paddy Madden

Caretaker boss Mick Harford has been named as Nathan Jones’ successor until the end of the season this week.

Harford took over when Jones joined Championship side Stoke City in January and maintained an unbeaten run that has now stretched to 19 games.

As Town prepare to welcome the league leaders, Madden admits he sees the Hatters as the standout team.

However, he warned Luton to expect a battle as ninth-placed Fleetwood bid to build on back-to-back 1-0 wins over Charlton Athletic and Bradford City.

Madden said: “Credit to Luton, I think they are the best footballing side in the league and it shows with them being top of the league.

“They have a lot of very good players. It will be a tough game but we have shown that we can mix it with the higher teams at home especially.

“We are full of confidence and ready for Luton.”

Madden credits Town’s lack of consecutive victories for the reason they are not currently in the promotion mix.

Before last Saturday’s Valley Parade win, the last time Town picked up back-to-back victories was in October against Doncaster Rovers and Shrewsbury Town.

He said: “That (failure to put a run of wins together) is why we are not in the play-off positions.

“We have not been so consistent. We have won a game, lost a game and that is only our second back-to-back league win.

“We need to keep ticking those three points off and especially in League One, when any team can beat anyone, you will see yourself climbing right up the table.”

Madden believes that if Town do start earning points, the likes of sixth-placed Doncaster, who are eight points above them, will start to become nervous.

He said: “You are in the wrong game if you do not want to go on, succeed and be in those play-off spots.

“We are eight points off but you do not get too carried away.

“Once you keep racking the points up the teams in the play-off spots start to get a little bit more nervous. You never know what will happen.”

Madden also thanked the fans for their support at Bradford.

He said: “Coming to places like this with the crowd so big it is important that you have your 12th man.

“I thought they were magnificent. They did not stop all game and they were one of the main reasons that we saw the game out.”