Edwards admits he is finding it ‘incredibly challenging’ as injuries hit Luton once more.
Town boss reflects on a ‘stressful period’ as Hatters manager
Luton boss Rob Edwards stated it has been ‘incredibly challenging’ to try and manage the Hatters through what he described a ‘stressful’ period due to the unbelievable amount of injury problems that have dogged the club in recent months.
With Town back in the Premier League and having beaten Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 on home soil, then drawing 4-4 at Newcastle United in early February, all was starting to look rosy in Luton’s back garden, as they began to eye what would have been a stunning achievement of top flight survival. However, having already lost Zimbabwean international Marvelous Nakamba to a serious knee injury, with Mads Andersen and Dan Potts out too, they then saw Jacob Brown go down for the season with a knee problem, as things quickly began to take a turn for the worse.
Town soon found themselves decimated, Teden Mengi, Amari’i Bell, Sambi Lokonga, Gabe Osho, Issa Kabore, Elijah Adebayo, Jordan Clark and Reece Burke all facing differing periods of time out, leaving Edwards having to often selected two goalkeepers and five untested teenagers on the bench, as their slight chances of staying up were unsurprisingly extinguished.
It looked like Luton might have turned a corner going into their Championship campaign, but it started again during pre-season, Japanese international Daiki Hashioka suffering a calf problem in an early friendly contest, Burke, Andersen, Nakamba and Brown all still absent as well. An all too familiar pattern then ensued, Bell suffering another hamstring issue, Andersen out again, Carlton Morris sidelined and Tahith Chong suffering concussion.
