Luton will travel to Barnsley tomorrow without striker Ali Al-Hamadi after he returned injured from playing for Iraq, though Marvelous Nakamba and George Saville both return from international duty unscathed.
The forward who arrived on loan injured had only just returned to action before he was called up to play for his country and he scored in a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw with the UAE but was withdrawn at half time.
How long Al-Hamadi’s quad injury will sideline him for is still unknown, and boss Jack Wilshere said: “Ali obviously picked up an injury, which is, first of all, disappointing for him, because I know he’s been through a lot and then disappointed for us because he can help us. But we’ll help him, we’ll support him and wait for him to come back.
“We’re still waiting to find out how long he’s going to be. It was his quad. I think that was reported before.
“We’re waiting to see the extent of it. But it’s not ideal for him. Simon’s [Parsell – medical co-ordinator] gone with him today for a meeting with someone, which will give some information about later. It’s definitely not a couple of weeks it’ll be a little bit longer than that I think.”
The manager was at least boosted by Nakamba and Saville’s return, praising the latter’s influence on and off the ball, as he had started every game until last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Rotherham United.
Wilshere said: “He’s a player who’s obviously played at a high level. He understands the game really well. His experience, his know-how on the pitch. Also his technical ability.
“He helps us, especially when we’re in low build-up, he understands his position, he can receive the ball under pressure, which helps us, so, yeah, we’re happy to have him back.”
Nakamba has played double the amount of times for Zimbabwe this season than his two appearances for the Hatters in the Vertu Trophy and asked if the midfielder has a chance for Town this season, Wilshere said: “There’s always a chance. I had to understand the situation when I came in because obviously I saw his name in the squad and saw he didn’t play that much and I think he missed a bit of pre-season, he was paying it a little bit of catch-up. But yeah, he’s in and around it, he’s training, there’s always an opportunity.”
Jacob Brown came through a goalscoring appearance for Luton’s under-21s in midweek and will be in the squad to face his former side Barnsley, but the trip to Oakwell will come too soon for winger Shaydon Morris and right back Reuell Walters, though they could feature in the squads for Huddersfield or Bolton next week. Jordan Clark also remains sidelined.
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