Luton boss Rob Edwards would have no qualms in handing teenager Joe Johnson his full Championship debut when the Hatters kick off their season at home to Burnley on Monday evening.

With Town still suffering a raft of injuries to their back-line, Amari’i Bell, Reece Burke and Mads Andersen all missing, Japanese international Daiki Hashioka also out too, then like the latter stages of last term, the Hatters chief is down to the bare bones once more defensively. He does have Teden Mengi and Tom Holmes fit for the contest, along with Johnson, who despite being only 18, has featured heavily in Luton’s pre-season campaign.

The youngster is highly thought of at Kenilworth Road, making his second tier debut in April 2023 when coming on against Middlesbrough and then featuring in the 0-0 draw with Hull. Last year Johnson earned two Premier League outings off the bench against Manchester City and Fulham, also playing the FA Cup ties against Everton and Pep Guardiola’s champions, having started the 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Exeter City as well.

Town remain in the hunt for a new defender during the transfer window, but should one not arrive in time for Monday, and even if he did, Edwards would be happy to select Johnson, as asked if he was ready, he said: “He is. He’s started I think every pre-season game for us, done well. We believe in not just Joe, we’ve got so many good young players here, they’re ready to have an impact this season. So if he starts then that’s because he’s good enough and we believe in him.”

It’s not just at Luton that Johnson has caught the eye, as he played for the England U17s in the U17s World Cup last season, also featuring for the U18s too. Having come through the ranks, the youngster already has an affinity with the Luton fans too, which is something Edwards was pleased to see, saying: “Any player there’s always going to be bits to learn, mistakes, especially young defenders, we’ve all got to accept that, but I’ve already heard the crowd singing he’s one of our own, I think it’s important.

“They get behind them straight away as they’re their own as they’ve been singing. I don’t think there’s anything better than having your own young players playing in the first team, well there is nothing better than that. You mix that with some experience that we’ve got, one or two new signings as well over these next coming days hopefully and the remaining period of the window, we’ll be getting stronger as it goes, there’s no doubt about that. But on Joe, we fully believe in him.”

Even if he doesn’t start, Johnson is expected to get a greater amount of game time this term, as Edwards could look to use a number of his academy graduates throughout the course of the campaign. One such player is Zack Nelson, who had two Premier League outings last term, the attacking midfielder shining during pre-season, with two goals in the 3-2 defeat to Turkish side Göztepe and is expected to be in the match-day squad that faces the Clarets.

With Jayden Luker another who has impressed, along with defenders Aidan Francis-Clarke and Jack Bateson, the pair also used during the warm-up games, Edwards is hoping to be able to keep the conveyor belt of talent going, adding: “We want to try and win football matches, we want to try and play a good way, we also want to try and bring through our young players.

“We’ve got a brilliant academy, the staff work incredibly hard, and Joe and Zack especially have been training with us for a long time now. They’ve had a little tiny taste of Premier League action and first team action and now we want them to continue to keep growing. When we get players back fit we become more competitive, the squad becomes more competitive and minutes for those younger players, as it should be the case, will be difficult to come by. But they will get more this year, no doubt about that.”