Luton’s Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu will learn in the next 24 hours the extent of the damage to his knee as manager Rob Edwards has revealed what he said to the midfielder in a much-praised moment caught on camera after the final whistle of weekend’s 1-0 win at Sheffield United.
The Town powerhouse was distraught at being forced off after 26 minutes during Saturday’s 1-0 win at automatic promotion-chasing Blades, and he returned to the dugout later in the game with his leg in a brace and on crutches.
But Edwards is not looking to far ahead and said of Mpanzu: “He had a scan today. We’ve not got the results of it yet. He’s been in a brace since the game so we’ll probably know more later today, hopefully.
“I don’t want to speculate because I don’t want to give a headline and it not be right, so we’ll know more in the next 24 hours and we can give proper detail around what is the diagnosis.
“Obviously, we’ve got everything crossed that it’s not as bad as it could be, but we shall see.”
Asked how Mpanzu is feeling, Edwards said: “As you can imagine he’s down, he’s frustrated, he’ll be upset. We haven’t seen him today because he’s been off getting the scan, we saw him yesterday, brought him into the meeting and when we were going through some video stuff and having a chat. It’s hard, it’s the worst thing for any footballer, being injured, I can’t comment on it yet, just really hoping that it’s not a really, really significant injury.
Mpanzu got injured in April last season and missed the Hatters’ run to the Championship play-offs, where injuries throughout the squad arguably did for their Premier League dream. But Luton are positively poised again this term, sitting fourth in the division, five points clear of the chasing pack and now just seven points adrift of second place after that big win at Bramall Lane.
Edwards said: “Any stage is never a good time for an injury, of course, when every game is becoming more and more important, and he’s been such a huge influence for us on the pitch and off it, he will be sorely missed.
“But what it does is it gives other people opportunities and we have to show the strength in depth in the squad, and we know if he’s not able to play, he’ll be supporting the lads and still being a big influence and help for us off the pitch and doing what he can to try and help the lads.”
Edwards drew plaudits from Hatters fans on social media after video footage (above) saw the manager make a beeline for Mpanzu at the final whistle, consoling the midfielder while the rest of the squad celebrated victory at Bramall Lane.
Asked what he said to the DR Congo international, the Town boss said: “(I was) just saying that we’re going to support you and let’s see how it is, but he’s been amazing for us and we’re going to do everything we can to support him.
“I could just see how much he was hurting, he was down and because it’s happened to him before, it’s just the worst thing for a footballer, but we will get round him, we will support him, we’ll do everything we can, and it’s important that we continue to do well for him as well as for ourselves and everyone else at the club, let’s do as well as we can for him.”
Luton got the better of United without the services of the in-form duo of Jordan Clark and Alfie Doughty, who picked up knocks.
Asked whether the pair could be fit to face Bristol City tomorrow night, Edwards said: “We’re going to give them as much time as we can and then see where they’re at. Burkey (Reece Burke) is another one, we’ll do the same. We’ll try and give them as long as we can to see if they’ll be involved in the squad.
“Pottsy’s (Dan Potts) still missing and Pelly’s one, but other than that, everyone’s OK.”
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