Luton Town defender Mark McGuinness remains sidelined and will miss tomorrow’s pre-season friendly at Gillingham after illness forced him to fly home early from the club’s preparation camp in Slovenia last week.
The summer signing, who arrived from Cardiff City last summer, had to cut short his involvement in the training camp after falling ill — and is now working on regaining full fitness following a period of rest.
“He had like a viral infection,” explained manager Matt Bloomfield. “He had to see the doctor and fly back. He saw the doctor before he left and the doctor was happy that he flew out.”
However, things took a turn for the worse once McGuinness was abroad.
“Unfortunately for Macca, he got better on the Monday, then took another dip on the Tuesday. So I think it was the Wednesday [that] he flew home,” Bloomfield said. “He wasn’t right to keep him any longer.”
The 24-year-old centre-back is now on the mend, but the manager admitted the illness came at a bad time, both for the player and the team.
“He’s going to be missing for a little period now just because he’s missed so much work and he’s been laying in a hotel room or in his bed at home,” Bloomfield said, adding: “So unfortunately for Mark, he’s been ill, which has been probably quite crucial that Mads [Andersen] has really been available and stepped up.”
McGuinness, who was expected to compete for a starting place in central defence, will be eased back in cautiously as Bloomfield said: “Our level of care to him has to make sure that he’s right.”
Danish defender Andersen has deputised for McGuinness since he fell ill and had featured in every session since the start of pre-season until Tuesday’s behind closed doors friendly against Colchester where he picked up an ankle knock, so will sit out tomorrow’s trip to Gillingham.
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