Luton chief hoping to have quintet returning to action soon….
Luton boss Rob Edwards revealed there had been some ‘good news’ for midfielder Marvelous Nakamba as he makes his way back from a serious knee injury that has kept him out for over eight months.
The 30-year-old was expected to be an integral part of the Hatters’ attempts to stay in the Premier League last season, having starred during his time on loan from Aston Villa when Luton reached the top flight via the play-offs the campaign beforehand. Having turned that temporary move into a permanent one, signing a three year contract during the summer of 2023, Nakamba then made 13 appearances for Luton in the highest tier of English football, also playing for Zimbabwe in their World Cup qualifiers too.
However, the ex-Vitesse Arnhem and Club Brugge player was to his hopes of featuring further cruelly ended by a meniscus injury suffered in training during December which was to keep him out for the remainder of the campaign. It has seen him taking on a watching brief during the pre-season friendlies as Luton gear up for the Championship as well, but despite not being available, Edwards played down any fears of a set-back, saying: “It was just the nature of the injury to be honest, but he is doing pretty well.
“He had some good news last week, where he was able to really start building and progressing, but Marv’s a different animal. We’ll use his fitness and getting him fit in training a little bit as well, that’s how we did it last season when we signed him permanently. So he might not be too far off, but he will need to train for a number of weeks first. Hopefully the training with us means he won’t be too far off, which is great.”
Nakamba is one of five Town players who are missing from Monday’s curtain-raiser against Burnley with Amari’i Bell, Mads Andersen, Reece Burke and Jacob Brown all out as well, although Teden Mengi should thankfully be fit. Giving an update on just when he expects those closing in on a return to be back, Edwards said: “He’s (Bell) trained fully now.
“Probably three or four sessions that he’s done so he’s getting there quickly. (Burke and Andersen) I would say 10 days, two weeks behind Amari’i, so not too far off. He’s (Brown) a bit behind them, but progressing nicely. He’s been out on the grass and running, so it’s hard to put a timeframe exactly on that. The other three are ahead, but Browny’s progressing well.”
When all five are ready to go, Edwards won’t just throw them into the firing line without ensuring they can cope with the demands being placed on their bodies, as asked if they would have to go through their own mini pre-season, he added: “They’re kind of getting that anyway. Things are different now, every club will be the same, they don’t go straight from the treatment table, straight on to the grass and training with us.
“There’s obviously a big body of work and a lot of hard work with the S and C (strength and conditioning) coaches in that interim period before entering straight back into training with the first team. So we hope and believe that when they’re with us and when they’re ready to be in that match-day squad, they’ll be ready. Game time will be lacking a little bit but they’ll hopefully get that quickly within the games.”
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