Danny Hylton will test his knee today in a friendly against a Chinese League One side as he bids to make his long-awaited Hatters return, while Chelsea loan ace Izzy Brown is now back training.
Striker Hylton has not featured under Luton boss Graeme Jones, having suffered an injury in March, then undergoing more knee surgery in the summer.
Initially, the manager talked of a temporary loan move for the 30-year-old talisman, to get some game time, but he has now decided to keep him at Kenilworth Road.
And as Town do not have an Under-23 side, which would allow fringe players and rehabilitating Hatters to get game time, Hylton will play in a behind-closed-doors game later today at Luton’s Brache training base.
“That’ll be the first opportunity to get some minutes in him,” said Jones, after the striker took part in three days of training last week.
He added: “I’ve seen what type of player Danny is for the first time in eight months.
“He’s a handful, he’s difficult to play against, but until he goes out on the big pitch, he’s not going to be confident enough to put himself forward, so we’d better tick that box.”
With Luton bottom of the Championship and deep in a relegation battle, asked if Hylton – who has 58 goals in 118 appearances – could still play a part in the remainder of the season, Jones said: “I haven’t disregarded him, I have to assess everybody.
“I’m back to the same point that they’re my players, so I want to assess my players first, I want everyone as fit as they can be, and then I know we can be competitive.”
Jones also revealed on January 4 that Izzy Brown was recovering quicker than expected from a hamstring injury that had threatened to keep the playmaker ace out until mid February.
The Chelsea loan ace – who has been directly involved in seven goals in his last nine starts – tweeted last night about returning to training.
With Town’s transfer shopping not going well so far, Jones has insisted it’s also a priority to get all his injured players fit as quickly as possible.
