Hatters boss Rob Edwards insists that is a ‘lot to consider’ when choosing who goes upfront for the Hatters at Sheffield United tomorrow following the clamour for youngster Joe Taylor to get more game time this season.
The 21-year-old’s prolific loan spells at Colchester United and Lincoln City last term, where he reached double figures for both sides in League Two and One, scoring 22 goals in 48 outings, served to whet the appetite of the Luton supporters who hoped to see him get a chance to shine in Town’s XI after their relegation to the Championship.
It hasn’t happened yet though, Edwards favouring Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo to begin with, a fit-again Jacob Brown then starting during Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Oxford United. It means that Taylor, who did almost leave Kenilworth Road on loan during January, has been restricted to just an hour of football during the nine matches to date, his longest outing getting 15 minutes in the 2-1 defeat against QPR in August.
The former Peterborough youngster, who is greeted with a terrific ovation whenever entering the fray, has looked dangerous in that time, thinking he had levelled at Plymouth Argyle last Friday night with his first goal for the Hatters, a deft finish from Victor Moses’ cross, only to see his team-mate flagged offside, Town going on to lose 3-1.
With Adebayo leading the line once more in midweek, and clearly flagging during the latter stages, Taylor remained on the bench, as although Cauley Woodrow was introduced, he soon dropped into midfield after an immediate red card to fellow replacement Liam Walsh. Asked whether both Taylor and Woodrow are now in contention to start for the Hatters at Bramall Lane, Edwards said: “There’s lots to consider. I pick the team for a reason because I see them every day in training, so there’s reasons why we pick the team that we pick, but we’ve got good options on that last line and we’ll try and make what we feel are the right decision.
“There’s a lot to consider, it’s not just scoring goals, it’s defending set-pieces, attacking set-pieces. It’s pressing, it’s running hard and there’s lots of things to consider there so it’s not just as simple as right, he’s in now, we need a goal. We need an all-round performance as well, but we have got some good options there and the lads are all working hard every day to push.
“You have to try and make the right decision. It’s not just based on a goal, there’s 97 minutes of play that you’ve got to be able to defend, hold up, press, defend a set-piece, whatever it might be. There’s a lot more to just playing upfront and taking a chance, but I accept that we have options there, no doubt about it and if I see it in training and see people pushing, they’ll get a chance”
With eight games gone in the Championship, Luton have scored just eight goals, only netting more than one twice, that following Sheffield Wednesday being reduced to 10 men and then against Oxford United on Tuesday night when they were ultimately pegged back to 2-2. Ahead of the campaign, Edwards had promised more goals than the 57 his side managed last time they were in the second term, and on the Hatters’ current efforts in the final third, he added: “We saw good stuff, especially going two goals ahead the other day.
“We saw some really good bits and how we’re trying to get behind teams and create chances. We’ve created some good chances in pretty much every game but then it’s about managing counter attacks, getting the position right, positional awareness, it’s about finding that balance.
“To win games of football you’ve got to score, you’ve got to commit bodies forward, but then there’s a balance to that as well that we’ve got to continue to look at as at the moment like everyone else, we’re frustrated that we’re giving too many goals away and then at the top end not scoring as many as we should have done. So hopefully we can see on both sides of games some improvement tomorrow.”
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