Burnley v Luton: Who’s fit, available and who’s not for Town

Chiedozie Ogbene
Chiedozie Ogbene. Photo by Liam Smith

Luton will travel to Burnley for a relegation six-pointer with a relatively clean bill of health, with only the suspended Jacob Brown missing. 

The forward picked up his fifth booking of the season in the 3-2 defeat to Chelsea last month and was absent from the FA Cup stalement with Bolton on Sunday due to a knee issue. 

During that cup game, captain Carlton Morris came off after 76 minutes with cramp but the striker has not felt any adverse effects. 

Manager Rob Edwards said: “Carlton’s in contention. He was just cramping up a little bit against Bolton, so that’s been fine. 

“Browny is suspended anyway for this one, so we’re without Browny. He was feeling his knee for the Bolton one, but he’ll be fit for the next one, but he’s suspended for this one. 

“Apart from that. Obviously Marv (Nakamba) and Locks (Tom Lockyer), we’ve got a decent complement to go up there.”

Town will be without right back Issa Kaboré, who has joined up with the Burkino Faso squad for the African Cup of Nations. 

This season, Alfie Doughty and Chiedozie Ogbene have filled in when Kaboré hasn’t played. The latter lost his place in the starting 11 after going into November’s international break with a foot injury.

Edwards said: “He seems in a good place now. I think he’s looking back to his threatening best. It’s good to have him. I’m not sure any player is 100 per cent, but he’s pretty close to it.

“It gives us real competition in that top line. Obviously, we’re without Browny for this one because of his suspension, so it’s important that we have people like Chieo available to affect it. 

“Before his injury he was electric and caused teams a lot of problems. I think he’s pretty much there again.”

Whether the Irish international could fill in a right back, the manger said: “The shape of the team is so fluid now, it’s hard to really call us a five or a back four, really. We’ll try to position him in a certain place when we’ve got the ball, and then, when we haven’t got it, he’s got certain responsibilities as well. 

“So, if you’re writing a team up on a board, then he’s capable of filling in for Issa, but we might ask different things of him, because he’s got different strengths to Issa.”

Yesterday Fred Onyedinma had his season-long loan at Rotherham United terminated and he too has played right back before for Luton, but he won’t be available. 

Edwards said: “Fred’s injured. It was their decision for him to come back.”