Nathan Jones says his squad are in a good place with virtually a clean bill of health as the Town treatment room emptied over the international break – though not all will be thrust straight into action at Millwall on Saturday.
Fred Onyedinma, Allan Campbell, Admiral Muskwe are all back in training, with the latter two getting minutes and the striker scoring for Luton U21s as they drew 1-1 with Bournemouth U23s at Hitchin Town yesterday.
Defender Tom Lockyer, who was was withdrawn with injruy from the Wales squad, is also back on the practice pitch.
Talking of the two-week break from Championship action, the Hatters boss said: “It’s allowed us to do some real good work and rest the ones we needed to rest, work the ones we needed to work and get pretty much everyone back. So, we’re in good shape, it’s been a good couple of weeks.”
Onyedinma and Campbell in particular had been out with ligament damage, so the former may not feature against his former side on Saturday.
Jones said: “One or two are not quite ready, ready, if you like, but everyone’s back, everyone’s had good sessions in the two weeks so we’re in a much better place.
“One or two probably won’t be ready for Saturday, in terms of exposing them to a game of the magnitude of Millwall away, but they are ready, they are training and they are ready for when they’re called upon.
“An extra day today and tomorrow, then the weekend, they’ll be even more ready for Tuesday. We’re in a decent place in terms of the squad, so we’re happy.”
Campbell suffered that horror challenge at Blackburn Rovers a month ago, that should’ve seen Darragh Lenihan dismissed and could’ve potentially ended the Scot’s season.
“He’s been nothing short of miraculous in terms of how quickly he’s got back, but that’s desire from the boy,” said Jones.
“At times, when we’re holding him back he’s said, ‘I’ve played on my ankle when it’s worse than this’. That’s the type he is, so we’re delighted with Allan, delighted to have him back and we wanted to give him some exposure to minutes on Tuesday, as we did Addy (Admiral Muskwe), Carlos (Mendes-Gomes) and (Elliot) Thorpe. They all got valuable minutes, an hour in the game.
“Whether the intensity is like we train with on a Tuesday, it’s that exposure to a game scenario, so they’re all in a better place for it.
