Bell faces ‘lengthy’ injury with hopes up for Osho but down for duo as teen could make debut

Gabriel Osho could return to face Crystal Palace but Amari’i Bell faces a “lengthy” injury, while there has been frustrating news with the recovery of two influential Hatters and hints that one youngster could make his Premier League debut for threadbare Luton. 

Jamaica international Bell was suffering with a hamstring and ankle problem ahead of the the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa, and the gamble backfired when he lasted five minutes of the Premier League contest. 

However Bell’s injury was to the other hamstring and that leaves Luton short on defensive options ahead of the huge relegation clash at Selhurst Park. 

“We’re not too much better off,” said manager Rob Edwards of his injury list which includes Elijah Adebayo, Sambi Lokonga (both hamstrings), Mads Andersen (calf), Marvelous Nakamba (knee), Joe Johnson (glandular fever), Jacob Brown (knee), Tom Lockyer (recovering from cardiac arrest).

“We lost Amari’i and that looks like a lengthy hamstring, early doors against Villa. 

“It was actually the other hamstring to the one he was feeling.

“Like I said last week, going into the game, he wasn’t quite right, but not many of the players are fully right at this stage of the season. 

“You’re always patching one or two things up, but it was his other side. Whether he was over compensating, we don’t know. We don’t know the full extent. 

“He’s got more scans today, but I don’t think it’s great news.” 

Osho has been suffering with a muscle and tendon problem and has not featured since the 4-1 defeat at Liverpool on February 21, but Town will wait until the last minute to see if the 25-year-old can return to action this weekend. 

Edwards said: “The only one that’s hopefully going to come in and around it is Gabe Osho, so we’re going to give him as much time as possible going into this weekend.” 

Tahith Chong has trained all week having been subbed against Villa after a hefty challenge saw him limp off, so the attacker is available again, but there was less positive news on Adebayo and Lokonga.

A video posted on social media in the last week of the pair training on exercise bikes had raised hopes of a quick return. 

However, Edwards said: “It’s really frustrating. They’re pushing, we’re pushing. They don’t feel quite right yet. 

“I don’t even want to say that we’ll get them for Bournemouth at the moment because I don’t want to get people’s hopes up and then let people down. 

“It’s frustrating because they’re close and they’ve been out on the grass, trying to push and it’s not been quite right. 

“The issue that we have is that you put them in and you push and then what happens to Amari’i happens to them and then they’re out for a long time. 

“What we need to do is get it right because when they’re back they need to stay back. That’s the conundrum that we’ve got at the moment.”

In the second half against Villa, January signing Daiki Hashioka impressed in Bell’s left sided centre half role, despite being signed as a wing back, and that could be the case against at Palace if Osho isn’t passed fit. 

Edwards said: “We know, every game in the Premier League we have to be at full tilt to compete. Physically, we are competing well but it pushes us to the limit. 

“To do that three times in a week is really difficult for us, never mind with the small, tight squad that we’ve got at the moment anyway. 

“We’ll need the bodies that we’ve got at the moment. Maybe we’ll need younger players. If (18-year-old academy midfielder) Zack Nelson makes his Premier League debut at some stage, he’s been brilliant this season. That could happen. He’s been brilliant, so why not? 

“We’ll have to rely on the group that we’ve got at the moment, and we’ve got full confidence in them.” 

Another player that has posted video of his recovery work is Danish defender Andersen, who has been back in his homeland doing rehab work to heal his calf issue.  

Edwards said: “He’s progressing really well. That will be a massive plus. He’s due to come back at the back end of next week and hopefully we can start pushing him and getting him closer to it as well. 

“Clearly, with the defensive injuries that we have got, it will be brilliant to have him back.”