Luton will wait to the 11th hour to assess playmaker Izzy Brown’s fitness ahead of tomorrow’s visit of high-fling Leeds United.
The Chelsea loan ace is joint top for creating the most chances in the Championship but missed Town’s last league clash, when they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Reading, before the international break.
Having hobbled off in the previous game against Nottingham Forest, boss Graeme Jones said the 22-year-old, “has to play if we’re going to stay in the league“.
Asked about the chances of Brown returning to the team tomorrow, the manager said: “We’ll have to assess him again in the morning.
“It’s been progressive, let’s put it like this. Obviously, in the three-game week you don’t want to take any unnecessary risks, because we want him available.”
Brown previously had a loan spell at Elland Road last season, making just two appearances at the tail end of the campaign after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury and then a hamstring injury. Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa has spoken of his regret at not playing the youngster as much as he’d have liked.
He said: “He was with us and he had very good behaviour here. He’s showing a level he didn’t show with us. I consider this a mistake of mine. At Luton he is able to compete to play matches. We couldn’t give him this.
“I am very happy for him because he is a player who was with us and had a very good behaviour here. He is showing a level he didn’t show with us. I consider this as a mistake (on my part). I am sure Luton could give him things that I couldn’t.
“In Luton, he is able to compete to play matches and we could not give him that. After, you can see this in a different way. If we could have achieved to have had him for one more year, maybe we could have got another version of him.
“In Luton, he arrived healthy and recovered and when he did six months work, he couldn’t work properly. But I do not want you to take out credit on the people who are with him now because other staff achieved to make the best of him.”
The other notable absence from Luton’s line-up in their last outing was captain Sonny Bradley who was ‘taken out of the firing line’, having played every single league game since August 2018.
“Sonny’s available, fit and healthy,” Jones said of the centre half, adding: “He’s a new father. People don’t talk about personal circumstances and they think that footballers are just robots.
“Sonny became a father last Friday, so he’s been a father for a week now of a baby boy.
“I’m sure that’ll help him as well. That’s out of the way and the little ‘un is here, safe and sound. It’ll help him concentrate on his football.”
The Luton boss had also previous said that by the time of last week’s international break, he’d know more about the recovery of injured goalscorer Danny Hylton.
The talismanic striker has not played since March 23 and underwent knee surgery in the summer.
Jones said of the 30-year-old: “He’s doing great. He won’t be fit until December, so we can rule him out, but I’ve got a clear idea of where he is.
“He’ll start training in December, so he’s improving, he’s getting stronger but he won’t contribute in the next ten days.”
