New Luton signing Victor Moses will be involved in the squad that travels to face Millwall tomorrow, though boss Rob Edwards has warned fans not to expect “too much, too soon”, but with other players nearing a return the manager’s options are increasing.
The Nigerian international joined on Wednesday as a free agent after leaving Spartak Moscow in the summer.
Moses has a wealth of experience in European football but most notably in England where he came through the ranks at Crystal Palace and then moved to Chelsea in a £9million move, where he won the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Europa League.
But he’s also played on loan at Liverpool, West Ham, plus Fenerbache in Turkey and Inter Milan in Italy before his move to Russia in 2021.
Edwards said: “What he will bring is a wealth of experience, great experience from winning cultures. He’s won a lot of trophies and been involved in winning teams and knows what it takes.
“He’s he’s a versatile player. Can play the sides in different positions, so he’s a really good player.
“We don’t expect too much too soon, but he’s fit, he’s available. We want to be able to integrate him and using in the right way, so he stays fit for the, the whole, the whole season ahead.
“He’s a really good person, very good player, been involved in winning teams, a versatile player as well and can play a number of different positions. It was, in the end, it was a it was a no-brainer for us.
“He’ll be involved in the squad. He’s trained fully this last couple of weeks. We can we can integrate him when we see fit, as we see fit. He’ll be part of the squad tomorrow.”
Despite Edwards talking up Moses’ versatility, his arrival will help ease the Chiedozie Ogbene shaped hole on Luton’s right flank, after the Republic of Ireland international moved to Ipswich in a £8million move last month.
“We felt it was an area that we wanted to try to give us a little bit of a boost,” said Edwards, adding: “But he’s very versatile. He can do both sides as well, I suppose, as Chieo could, and a little bit lower and higher up the pitch, maybe even inside as well.
“So he’s tactically very, very aware and and been involved in a number of different teams and different set-ups, so it helps us as well.
“He’s taken risks, I think, throughout his career, jumped at opportunities when they’ve come up and backed himself and what was really refreshing was the fact that he really wanted to come to us. And he made that clear from day one when we spoke and, that I like that as well. Somebody wants to play for a football club.
But, yeah, he’s got incredible experiences. And he’s used to being involved in teams that have won and we can we can, we can use that.”
Town will still be without new loan signing Tom Krauß, who arrived from Mainz with an ankle injury, but Edwards said of the German: “He’s he’s doing really, really well, stepping up his training next week and hopefully get him involved with us as well.
“So, he’s chomping at the bit. I’ll say it like that. He’s really, really eager to get back involved and he’s in a good place, So hopefully we can progress him quite soon.
“He wants to be able to play and affect it and do well and show everyone what he’s about. It’s frustrating for him at the moment. He’s not been able to do that. He’s not far away now.”
Japanese international Daiki Hashioka is also nearing a return after getting injured during pre-season.
“Hashi’s doing well as well,” said Edwards, adding: “He’s progressing out to the grass and doing work with the with the fitness coaches as well now. So, we’re hoping to be able to start integrating him soon as well. Maybe a similar sort of timing to Tom, maybe a week or two behind. We’ll see. But doing well.”
Attacker Jacob Brown too edging closer to a return after his serious knee injury. He trained today, though the attacked won’t be available for tomorrow’s Millwall match, but potentially for next week’s game at home to Sheffield Wednesday.
Mads Andersen is available, as is Marvelous Nakamba after the Zimbabwean completed his first 45 minutes of the year in the Carabao Cup defeat to QPR last month.
And Luton’s active internationals all returned unscathed from their national duties, with Reuell Walters suffering a small illness, though he has trained today.
