Reece Burke will be out for a number of weeks with a hamstring problem, boss Nathan Jones has confirmed while insisting that Luton’s relentless schedule is a factor in player injuries.
The centre halve pulled up while chasing a long ball during the victory at Hull City and missed Tuesday’s 3-3 draw at home to Huddersfield.
Jones said: “He’ll be out not a significant amount of time, but it will be weeks and then we have to judge that then.
“He’s so important to us. (It’s) really unfortunate, because he’s been in fine form and he’s the type of important player we want, aggressive, which something that not many said about Reece Burke before he came here.
“But he’s a real aggressive centre half now, athletic, and he’s just picked up a fatigue injury, so we’ve got to manage him as it’s not just about getting him back and coming back from that.
“The demands we put on them, we don’t want to put him in any danger, so it’s unfortunate, but we’ll manage that, it will be weeks. How many? We don’t know yet, it’s how he reacts to everything, so we won’t put a timescale on that.”
As well as Burke’s absence, Gabriel Osho and Luke Freeman were also not in the squad in midweek, with the defender also having a slight issue with the hamstring problem he’s just returned from.
Jones is still hopeful of having more options for Saturday’s trip to West Bromwich Albion, but asked if injuries mean he’ll alter his training methods, Jones said: “We’ve just got to make sure we have constant monitoring of our processes and how we deliver information. And that the players are doing their bit as well.
“It’s unfortunate but with the way things are there are a lot of contributing factors. Three away journeys on the spin where you’ve got big journeys don’t help. You’re sat on a bus for hours and hours and hours and then you put in big shifts and then you can’t sleep. So it’s all these things.
“The fixture schedule because of a horrific World Cup, all of these contribute to why players now are getting injured.
“This is the most athletic league in the world, I would say, in terms of intensity. It’s the highest number of games in the shortest period of time. All these things add up to why Championship teams pick up injuries.
“So you either be really passive and cruise through a season and not get injuries, or if you want to play the way you play, we don’t get any help.
“We’re not like the Premier League who play once a week and have a big time to prepare, or have a £100million, or whatever it is, to improve your facilities, so you’ve got hydro pools, contrast bathing, five masseurs and health clubs and all that kind of thing.
“We don’t have that, so we’ve got to be very careful. We’re up against it. So, it’s not just about the training, it’s about making sure the processes and protocols are really steadfast.”
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