Luton will be without Reuell Walters for tomorrow night’s League One trip to Reading, with manager Jack Wilshere confirming the defender is unavailable after a combination of a minor groin issue and illness.
Walters’ absence from the squad that drew 2-2 with Port Vale on Saturday has forced the manager to juggle his defensive options, leaning on Nigel Lonwijk to play at right back.
“He was injured for the game on the weekend, he felt his groin, but they obviously did some investigations and it wasn’t bad and then he got ill,” Wilshere said of Walters. “So we haven’t seen him for a few days. He’s not available, but hopefully is not bad and he’ll be back with us next week.”
Wilshere insisted Walters’ absence had not been disastrous, pointing to Lonwijk’s willingness to step in despite playing out of position.
“He wasn’t available, so the only option we had was Nigel,” the Town boss said. “I love Nigel for his attitude and his courage to play there, because he’s not right back. It’s clear and I know that, he knows that, but he’s helping the team at the moment and he’s done OK in certain moments.
“I think he’ll be disappointed with some moments from the weekend but we have to remember he’s not a full-back and we need to help him as much as we can now.”
The Luton boss also explained that his use of a traditional overlapping full-back is not always essential, depending on how he wants his side to attack.
“Sometimes, depending on how we think the best way is to attack doesn’t always mean that we want a full-back that gets around the outside,” Wilshere said. “It might mean that we want a different type of thought.
“Izzy [Isaiah Jones], for example, against Stockport gave us something going inside and being an attacking option like that, and it always comes down to the profile of the wingers as well.”
Wilshere highlighted how right-sided selections can change the dynamic, particularly when Luton field a right-footed winger, with Milli Alli, Shayden Morris and Gideon Kodua both operating there.
“If you got a right footed right winger, a lot of the time, they want to go on the outside and we don’t really need a full-back on the outside,” he said. “But yeah, Reuell obviously came back, played two games. He’s not available now. So that’s another thing that we have to think about and yeah, hopefully he’ll be available soon.”
Elsewhere, Wilshere provided an update on several returning players but confirmed that not all will be ready to feature at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
“Jake’s still a bit short,” he said of 18-year-old midfielder Richards, adding: “He’s back in the training ground and building his fitness again, but it’ll be too soon for him.
“Hakeem [Odoffin] is back on the pitch, but he’s not ready. Nahki [Wells] obviously got some minutes. Jordan [Clark] got some more minutes, so they’ll be closer. We need to make a decision on them. So yeah, we’re happy that we got a few players back. We were still waiting for a couple.”
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