Jack Wilshere says Luton are reviewing their processes after it was confirmed that Gideon Kodua has undergone surgery on a hamstring problem, joining three other Hatters with similar injuries.
The midfielder is expected to be out until the new year after sustaining the injury during last Saturday’s Jersey Mike’s EFL Trophy match at Colchester United.
He joins Benny Benagr, Jayden Luker and Shayden Morris on the sidelines, with all four players not available for tomorrow’s League One trip to Wycombe Wanderers, though Joe Johnson is back in contention after an illness last week, as are Kasey Palmer, Nahki Wells, Isaiah Jones, Jamie Donley, Callum Marshall and Josh Keeley, who have all returned unscathed from the international break.
Wilshere said the club had been reviewing this latest spate of injuries, although he stressed that each case had its own circumstances.
“We review everything, right?” the Luton manager said, adding: “When I came here I said on numerous occasions different things; being the fittest team in the league, being the hardest working team in the league, creating and delivering a world class pre-season.
“So we have really high standards and when anything happens or goes wrong, I feel like you always have to review, whether it’s coaching processes, whether it’s recruitment, whether it’s medical all the time, to try and move on as a club and to be successful.”
Wilshere added: “It’s frustrating the hamstrings because I think [they are] different contexts. And they’re all different type of types of injury and also different types of athlete.”
Wilshere explained that Benagr had played only five games for the academy last season and had experienced a hip problem before his intensity increased with his introduction into the first team this term.
The manager said: “That’s on me. That’s on us as a football club, but also he was playing so well, we wanted him on the team because he made us better. So I think there’s always that risk you take.
Luker had also endured injury difficulties last season while on loan at Notts County, with the plan to give him a full pre-season before gradually building up his match minutes.
“Probably when we reflect, we raised the bar too quickly with him,” Wilshere said of Luker, adding that the youngster had enjoyed a strong pre-season and was pushing for a starting place, when he got injured in the first game of the season.
Morris, meanwhile, had been challenged to extend the periods in which he could perform at his best.
“My challenge to him personally was what you do in 30 minutes last season, I want you to do for 60 minutes, for 70 minutes. That means he has to push himself to find that,” Wilshere said.
“With those three, of course we’re not happy and we’ll review it and reflect on it, like we have done.”
The manager admitted Kodua’s case was particularly disappointing because the attacker had no previous history of the problem.
“The Gids one is probably the most frustrating because there’s no history of it,” he said. “We felt like his minutes were building nicely.”
Wilshere added that Kodua had missed a week of training, possibly two, after suffering a knee knock, and the club were investigating whether that could have been a factor.
The manager said the club were frustrated by the injuries but wanted to retain perspective, pointing to the wider squad’s improved availability compared with previous years of injury issues.
“While we’re frustrated and questioning everything, we also have to remember that availability-wise, which was a big problem before, we are in a better place now,” Wilshere said.
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