Boss Matt Bloomfield has confirmed that Marvelous Nakamba is still some way off being ready for first-team action despite the experienced midfielder making his first appearance in almost four months for Luton’s under-21 yesterday.
The 31-year-old Zimbabwe international started in the 2–1 victory over Leyton Orient, his first outing since last term’s nine-minute substitute cameo in the 1-0 win at Derby on April 18.
“Marv’s working his way back to full fitness,” said Bloomfield. “He’s played for the under-21s, which is good – he’s got 45 minutes under his belt.”
Nakamba has been managing a long-standing knee issue and has not trained consistently with the main group in recent weeks and Bloomfield explained: “He can’t train every day of the week like some of our others because he had a knee injury a couple of years ago. So we’ve had to take it slow with him.”
The midfielder’s pre-season was further impacted by reported interest from other clubs earlier in the summer, and Bloomfield confirmed: “Like a few others, there’s been a lot of speculation and interest in him from elsewhere. So it’s been a slow pre-season from him.”
While Bloomfield did not rule out Nakamba featuring again for the senior side, he stressed that the focus remains on getting him back to full sharpness before considering him for selection, saying: “He’ll be considered like anybody else, but he’s just a little bit away from his full fitness right now.”
