Danny Hylton says that if he’s allowed to play for Luton for the remainder of the season then he will, because the club comes first before his personal contract situation.
The 31-year-old’s current deal expires on June 30, but he is still hoping to feature in the final nine games of the Championship season when it resumes on June 20 at home to Preston North End, after more than three months in limbo, due to the Coronvirus pandemic.
Before football was shutdown in March, Hylton had been fit but had only featured for a total of 22 minutes across two games, 11 months after a serious knee injury.
There has been no talk of new contracts between Hylton and the Hatters, though severance pay would still see him paid until the end of July, when the season is due to end.
“I try not to pay too much attention to all that,” he said, adding: “What I get from the situation is the players who are out of contract need to be offered a short-term contract by a certain day in this month.
“But, regardless of contract situation, I love where I am, I love playing for this club, I’ve loved being here since I’ve been here so if I’m allowed to play I’m going to play.
“Anyway, if I can play or be involved in the last nine games then I’ll do it and I’d love to stay longer. You’ve got to be quite unselfish and you’ve got to put the club before yourself at this time and go, ‘right I’m a Luton player and I’ve got a job to do’ contracts can take care of themselves at a later date.”
After he made his long-awaited return to action as a substitute in the 1-0 Championship win over Sheffield Wednesday on February, Hylton made no secret of the fact he wanted to play to try and earn another contract that would keep him at Kenilworth Road beyond a fourth year.
But when Coronavirus struck a month later, that through the country into chaos, never mind football, though Luton chief executive Gary Sweet has laid out their serious financial implications of the crisis.
The Hatters squad last month agreed a wage deferral to help ease the burden on the club, but Hylton is one of six stars who will out of contract at the end of this month, with the future beyond that uncertain.
The forward said: “You can’t plan for those things. No one knew it was coming and this is the situation we find ourselves in.
“We know the rules now and we all will do the best we can and I’m sure Luton Town know enough about me and the other lads who are out of contract to know if they want us or if they don’t want us.
“I’d love to stay and I’m sure all the other lads would say the same but let’s take care of the games, do as well as we can and fingers crossed, personally, that I can stay here, I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
With Nathan Jones returning for a second spell in charge, Hylton is back with the manager that signed him from Oxford United in 2016.
Asked whether there’s incentive help the second-from-bottom Hatters beat relegation, because there might be more of a chance of earning a new contract, Hylton said: “That’s no different to any other year really, I suppose you have to do well to get another contract, if you don’t do well then you’re not going to get another contract.
“We will do our best to keep Luton up and I wish I could have been a part of it more in the last year. Let’s hope there is a big part to play in the last nine games and I will certainly be doing everything I can to help Luton stay up.”
