Luton are sweating over injuries picked up by Amari’i Bell and Isaiah Jones on international duty, but the pair will travel to Hull City with the squad and face late fitness tests ahead of tomorrow’s Championship relegation six-pointer.
Bell returned early from the Jamaican national side on Tuesday and it was known that he had a knock, but Jones played in Guyana’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, Preliminary Round, qualifier second leg defeat to Guatemala and only returned to England yesterday.
Today, Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield said: “Amari’i, [we’ve] still got a bit of a doubt over him. He got a knock, as I said earlier in the week, and Izzy Jones came back with a knock as well, so they’re both doubtful for tomorrow.
“We’re going to give them as long as we can. A lot of travelling [was] involved for those two boys, but they’ve come back and we’ll give them as long as we can and make a late decision on them both.”
Jones scored a Guyana hat-trick in the first leg victory over Guatemala but a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday saw the Golden Jaguars knocked out.
Bloomfield said: “It’s a huge recognition for the football club, for international players to go off and play the way those guys have. Obviously, it’s been a real good success for those boys in the international duty over the break. But, one part of that is that they come back and you have to hope for the best.
“Those two have got knocks, but we’ll give it as long as we can and if they’re fit, then great. If they’re not, then we’ve been training during the week and we’ll have replacements ready to go.
“Izzy only got back in the country yesterday, so there’s not been much time. So we’ve had to give him till this morning, get a good sleep in him and, obviously, we’re getting on the coach [to Hull] now, so we’ve just got to give him as long as we can.
“Usually, you want to be as prepared as much as you possibly can and that’s really important, but in weeks such as this, you have to be adaptable and that’s how we’ll have to be.”
Town will have back-up for Bell, with Kal Naismith available, but the doubt over Jones could be a bigger blow as the former Middlesbrough man has been one of Town’s bright sparks since his January switch from Teesside.
“They’ve been doing great. I think, since we’ve gone to a back three you’ve seen a real good performance level from the pair of them,” said Bloomfield.
“Amari’i’s looked like vintage Amari’i, stepping in from the left hand side. He defends one-on-one particularly well and Izzy has just been getting better and better in my mind. So, we really hope that they’ll both be fit and we’ll have to give them as long as we possibly can.
“It’s part of football, so there’s no sitting around sulking. We hope they’ll be fit and if they are, then they’ll play. If they’re not then we’ve been training really hard over the international window, and we’ll have the boys ready to go.”
Thelo Aasgaard has returned from Norway duty unscathed, while Tahith Chong and Reece Burke are both available. Teden Mengi has begun training with the squad again after his November knee surgery, but is not yet in full training.
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