United boss Garry Monk was delighted with his side’s display after Tyler Denton’s first-half strike secured an EFL Cup Round Two victory away to Luton Town.

Debutant Denton, who was one of 11 changes made by Monk from the weekend’s win at Sheffield Wednesday, struck a superb curling effort which proved to be the winner after 23 minutes at Kenilworth Road.

United needed to dig deep at times as the home crowded urged their team forward, with Marco Silvestri called into a string of fine second-half saves, but Monk felt his side, on the whole, were good value for their progression.

“It was what I expected tonight,” he said. “We had an experience against Fleetwood that was tough – and we knew this could be even tougher.

“I made it a little bit harder for the team by making 11 changes, but I thought they were a credit to the football club and to themselves.

“There were debuts and lads who have played less minutes that the others. The danger of making that many changes is the fluidity of the team and how cohesive they can be.

“But, all in all, I thought we were the more likely team to win the game and we got the goal.

“We probably should have capitalised on a couple of opportunities to make it a little bit more comfortable, but I thought the players did really well – especially in those last 10 minutes when we had to dig in and grind it out. I thought they were a credit to the club tonight.

“It was never going to be a free-flowing game – we saw that at Fleetwood. We had periods where we had to defend and I thought we did that well. I also thought we attacked really well – we just needed to be a bit more clinical.

“All in all, we can be pleased to get into the next round and the performance of all the players.”

Asked about Denton’s match-winning strike, Monk added: “It was a debut he won’t forget with a goal like that. I thought Tyler was excellent tonight.

“He deserved his chance – he’s been with me since I came in. I brought him into the first-team environment during pre-season and he’s continued to work with us.

“He’s a talented boy. He’s got a lot of work to do and a lot of maturing to do, but tonight was a step in the right direction for him.”