Edwards confident Luton fans will take to ‘tenacious’ former Everton teenager.
Midfielder impresses during 1-0 victory at Millwall
Luton boss Rob Edwards is confident the tenacious nature of midfielder Liam Walsh is a characteristic that will definitely endear the summer signing to the Hatters’ supporters.
The former Everton youngster moved to Kenilworth Road last month on a free transfer having left Swansea City following an injury-hit spell in Wales in which he played just 34 times in his three years, having a brief loan spell with Hull City too. Having had an impressive 45 minutes in Town’s Carabao Cup exit to QPR recently, Walsh then had a late cameo when the Hatters lost 2-1 at home to the same side in the league, before starting against Millwall on Saturday.
Completing 89 minutes in the 1-0 victory at the Den, Walsh’s ability on the ball was quite clear from the start, although as the contest wore on, it was his battling nature that shone through the most, getting stuck in to his Lions opponents, one particular challenge with George Honeyman earning both players talking to from official Josh Smith.
Having stated he will always try and win every single tackle during his interview when signing for the club, Edwards feels that side of the game is something Luton’s fans will quickly latch on to, as he said: “He’s really tenacious Walshy. People look at him and because he’s not six foot, think he might just be a silky footballer and that’s it, but he’s got a lot to his game.
“He’s very tenacious, he’s aggressive, that’s why the fans will really like him, because he’s someone who’s a good technician, can play with the ball, but he runs hard. His running stats are really good, so he works hard, and he’ll fight and win tackles as well, that’s what you want from everybody in every position on the pitch. So hopefully people are looking at what he does and will really take to him, because we really like Walshy, that’s why we brought him to the club.”
Walsh, a player that Edwards had his eye on during his youth career at Goodison Park, might have opened his account in east London too, as after curving one effort that was comfortably saved by Lukas Jensen, he should have made the home stopper pick the ball out of his net when arriving to meet Jordan Clark’s cross that was dummied by Tahith Chong, only to fire straight at the Danish keeper.
With eight goals in his career so far, including one absolutely stunning solo effort when on loan at Coventry City, Edwards believes it’s an aspect of his game he can also bring to Luton, adding: “I think he’s got that in him. Like we’ve always tried to do really, we’ve always allowed our midfielders to break into the box, we probably need at least one of them to balance off, and give us a little bit of protection, but we never want to rein anyone in.
