Luton boss Nathan Jones says he has not been unfair to Joe Morrell and says the Wales international has to force his way into his plans.
The midfielder is likely to feature for his country in the upcoming European Championships, but he has not played for the Hatters since a woeful team performance in the first half against Sheffield Wednesday in February.
Morrell was given the hook at half time, with Town 2-0 down, and then watched on as the team came back to win 3-2 in the second half.
While Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall impressed on his season-long loan spell from Leicester, becoming a mainstay in the starting 11, Morrell has featured just ten times, with half of those starts, since his £250,000 move from Bristol City in October.
The Foxes ace is unlikely to return for a second spell at Luton, though Town will try to get him back, but asked what Morrell needs to do to play more next term, Jones said: “He has to be better than the other midfield players at the club.
“We think Joe’s a very, very good player but if he’s going to play in front of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Pelly-Ruddock (Mpanzu) then he has to show that on a daily basis and that’s the same with anyone really.
“We want to keep moving forward and tough decisions have to be made in terms of on a weekly basis to the squad, but I don’t think we’ve been unfair to any player. I think it’s been a very productive season.
“To finish where we have, 62 points, never been anywhere near where our budget tells us we should be, so it’s difficult.
“I could have played Joe more, I could have played Goerge Moncur more, could have played Sam Nombe more, but we have to get results, so at the end of the day if we’re judged on results then we’re not in a bad place.
“Players have to force their way into your plans as I play players that I think at that time will win a game for me and for the club.
“We’ve been proved right on 17 occasions and we haven’t lost on a further 11, so over half the games we’ve been proved right and got a positive result.
“That’s why we’re in the position that we are and not going into a final day scrap.”
Here’s the conundrum. If you don’t give a player game time – beyond the occasional outing and the odd few minutes off the bench – how does he get to show that he’s worthy of a regular place? I don’t think NJ has been fair to either Morrell or Moncur, but this is a view from the outside. Maybe there are factors that I and other observers are unaware of. It’s particularly odd, in Morrell’s case, that he’s good enough to play for Wales but not for Luton Town. It would be a pity to lose either player: they could have so much to contribute.
NJ sees him playing on a daily basis during training. You have to let him do what he thinks is right for the team. He hasn’t been proved wrong so far…….. On the pitch anyway!!!