Luton Town 0-1 Stoke City: Jacob Brown scores in front of Scotland boss Steve Clarke

Jacob Brown checked for an offside flag before wheeling away to celebrate his goal

Jacob Brown scored the only goal in front of Scotland boss Steve Clarke as Stoke City won at Luton Town to strengthen their position in the Championship play-off places.

The 23-year-old received his first international call-up on Tuesday and backed that up with a close-range finish from a fine Romaine Sawyers cross.

Luton struggled to create but came close to a leveller when Admiral Muskwe headed against the bar from fellow substitute Fred Onyedinma's ball into the box.

Both sides had just two shots on target at Kenilworth Road, with Stoke receiving five second-half yellow cards for the second game running as they dug in to see out a second 1-0 away victory in four days.

Victory moves Michael O'Neill's side back up a place to fifth, with the Hatters dropping to 10th, four points behind their opponents.

Stoke could have gone ahead earlier in the first half when Leo Ostigard's powerful strike in the penalty area was excellently blocked by Luton defender Gabriel Osho.

Nathan Jones was up against the side he spent 10 months in charge of in 2019.

Luton have not won now in their last 11 meetings with the Potters over the past 21 years.

Luton manager Nathan Jones:

"It was a bit of a war of attrition first half, not much happening. Then they showed the one bit of quality in the game. That was the story of it. We went to sleep and it's a poor goal to give away.

"Second half we came out, and we were much more front-footed. We had enough situations to have done more. We just lacked the quality in the final third to put a cross on the money and, when we did, we hit the bar from it.

"Stoke have got a good squad, a big squad, an expensive squad, they've got good experience, but we showed once again that we're more than competing in the upper echelons of this league."

Potters manager Michael O'Neill told BBC Radio Stoke:

"I know what international football is like away from home, where you need a striker that can cover distances. Jacob Brown's able to do that, so I'm delighted for him he's in the Scotland squad.

"This time last week we were scratching our heads wondering how we'd lost a three-goal lead in five minutes at home. Then we come back and win two games away from home.

"Two clean sheets, two 1-0 victories. That tells me a lot about the players. We are a long way from where we were two years ago and we've got to continue to progress."