Alfie Doughty came through his first Luton appearance for two-and-half-months in midweek, so is available to face Millwall, while Lamine Fanne will be assessed ahead of kick-off to gauge if he’ll be involved or not.
But Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield will have no other players back from injury, with Tahith Chong still out of action, and still without a timescale for his return from a hamstring problem.
And despite another crushing defeat on Tuesday where they were 2-1 up and lost 3-2 at Oxford, Town could take the positive of Doughty’s 29-minute involvement, his first since damaging ankle ligaments in the win over Cardiff in November.
At that stage, the 25-year-old was the leading chance creator in the Championship, but Luton have struggled for goals without him, managing just 13 goals in the 14 league games where he’s not been on the pitch.
Even in his cameo from the bench at the Kassam Stadium, Doughty looked sharp, lively and got himself into three promising crossing positions, though Town’s forwards weren’t able to make the most of the chances.
“There have been no repercussions from that,” Bloomfield said of his contribution, adding: “Obviously, he’s been a big player for this football club for a number of years now, so having him back in the group is a big positive for us.
“I know he’s been out for a little while, but I thought he showed his quality straight away. And it was a big positive for us on the night.”
Now the next riddle to solve is where Doughty will best fit in Bloomfield’s formation as, in his first two games in charge of the club, the manager has favoured a back four.
Under former boss Rob Edwards this term, the Hatter had largely been deployed as a wingback alongside a back three, which Bloomfield has also used in his previous clubs, Wycombe and Colchester.
Talking about finding Doughty’s best position, the 40-year-old said: “There’s a number of elements that will contribute towards that. Alf can do both of those jobs, but it will be what suits the team at the right time, what our opposition presents, how are we going to build and how we’re going to press?
“So, lots of things contribute to that, but he’s also a good player and I think we can use him in a couple of different roles.”
The same could be said of midfielder Fanne, who arrived earlier this month from Swedish side AIK as a defensive pivot, but was immediately used in a more advanced number ten role in his debut at Queens Park Rangers.
But the Senegalese only played one more time before suffering an ankle injury, and while he’s been back training this week, Luton will need to assess whether he can feature against Millwall.
“Lamine’s getting very, very close. We’ll need to have a discussion with the medical department this afternoon about whether he’s done enough this week to be included in the matchday squad, or whether he’s not quite there. But he’s very, very close.
“I know he’s been a good investment for the football club, and we want to use him when we can but, yeah, we’ll have a discussion this afternoon and just go over one or two because I like to get training on a Friday just die down, if there any knocks and niggles, just make sure we make the right choices on a Friday afternoon.
“We’ll go and discuss that with them, but he’s been back out on the grass, Lamine. And obviously he’s a boy of real big potential, so we’ll look to include him as a when’s right.”
On whether any other Hatter will be absent for the lunchtime clash against Millwall, Bloomfield said:
“Nothing’s been reported. The boys have worked really hard. Obviously, we’re trying to be a little bit cautious this week as well, because a few of them have not played as many minutes recently as what it needs to be to have that real, cumulative load in, but we’ve been out on the training ground, they’ve been working hard, and we’re ready to go.”
Chong has not featured since Bloomfield was appointed last week and the manager said of his hamstring problem: “I don’t know the exact timescale. It will be as soon as possible. I’m not trying to trying to take you off the scent here, just he’s not yet back out on the grass with us yet.
“I just spoke to him in the gym. He’s working hard, feeling good and I leave that to Murph [Danny Murphy, head of medical] and the guys to guide him through that.”
Reece Burke, Shandon Baptiste, Teden Mengi and Tom Lockyer all remain out of action.
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