Carlton Morris of Luton Town is looking devastated at full time as their relegation is all but confirmed during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Luton Town at the London Stadium in Stratford, on May 11, 2024. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Hatters boss insists Doughty is already responding to summer chat.
Luton boss Rob Edwards has detailed just how wingback Alfie Doughty has already responded to a chat the pair had in the summer about improvements he could make to his game.
The 24-year-old, who was one of the Hatters’ top performing players in the Premier League last term, committed his long-term future to the club last week by penning a new contract. Despite showing he can clearly cope with the highest tier of English football, scoring twice and contributing seven assists, Edwards feels there is even more to come from the former Charlton youngster and believes he has started to show that during the opening few matches of the Championship campaign.
He said: “He’s been doing a lot of it this season and some of that stuff might go under the radar, but a lot with Alfie it’s not necessarily been his football at all. Technically he’s a very good player and we always want more, but sometimes with Alfie he can show disappointment, or he’s quite emotional. We want him to just play and react as soon as we lose the ball, being in the right position defensively for certain moments when we’re defending on the opposite side.
“Little things that might be a bit more boring to everyone else and even to players themselves as they want to be talking about getting on the ball and how I can create this chance? But there’s obviously two sides to the game. I’ve seen a real focus in that from pre-season. We spoke about it in the summer, he and I sat down and talked about all the good things that he does but there’s still a lot of room for growth.
“He’s taken a lot of that on board and put that into action. He’s still creating chances and getting forward well and there’ll be assists that will come his way, there’ll be goals that will come his way. But I’m seeing a lot of those other things that he’s really putting into practise as well.”
The decision by Doughty, who has played 85 times for Luton since joining in the summer of 2022, scoring five goals, to put pen to paper and extend his time in Bedfordshire, showcased the club’s desire to push for a place back in the top flight once more, as they kept hold of a player who played an important role in them reaching the Premier League in the first place.
Edwards continued: “It’s something that he’s deserved. Discussions have been going on for a while and I’m really, really pleased that he’s committed. The club’s really committed to him in return as well, but I think it’s a great fit since he’s been here. I think the club’s got the best out of him, and we’ve seen the best of Alfie. There’s still a lot more to come from him as well, which is really exciting. It’s very good news for the club, it shows our ambition as well. We want to retain and keep our really high level performing players and he’s still at a brilliant age as well where he’s only going to get better.”
Asked if there were discussions taking place over the futures of other members of the Hatters’ squad that Edwards will wish to tie down, he added: “That stuff is always ongoing, it’s not stuff that I’m thinking about too much at the moment. Those things will be happening elsewhere, but we’re always aware of where everyone’s at contract-wise, ready to to make sure that we lock people down when we need to or we enter discussions if we need to.
“But that’s not one that’s right on top of my focus now. Getting Alfie done was a big one, really good, the club have done great there and we’ll see how the next couple of months go, but especially at this moment, at this stage, I just want to focus on the football.”
