Lamine Fanne has been ruled out of new Luton boss Matt Bloomfield’s first game in charge against Preston North End, with Alfie Doughty close to a return but unlikely to feature.
Midfielder Fanne injured his ankle in last weekend’s 2-0 FA Cup third round exit at Nottingham Forest, but won’t be available tomorrow.
None of Luton’s walking wounded before the defeat at the City Ground are expected to be ready for tomorrow’s Championship clash.
Influential wing back Doughty has been out with an ankle ligament injury for close to two-and-a-half months, before which he was the leading chance creator in the Championship.
Certainly, in recent weeks, Town have struggled for goals, netting just twice in their last five outings. And in the 13 games that Doughty has been absent for the Hatters have bagged 11 goals, compared to 16 strikes in 14 games before his injury.
“Alf’s not far away. But I think there’s a doubt whether he’s going to make it tomorrow or not. But he’s not far away,” said Bloomfield, who left Wycombe to take over from Rob Edwards on Tuesday.
“I know he’s one that everyone’s keen to hear about and know about. He’s a big player for our football club, I get that. It shouldn’t be any more weeks. It’s close. It’s really, really close. But with muscle injuries, you’ve got to be making sure that he’s 100 per cent, because the last thing we want to do is, feel like I’m a new manager, I rush Alf back and then he falls away again.
“So, we’re trying to be sensible with our decision-making as well. He’s not far away, Alf, but whether he’s ready for tomorrow afternoon, he’s probably a doubt. But if we can get him back ready for next week to compete and contribute at some point, it’d be great.”
Along with Fanne, Zack Nelson also had to be withdrawn in that cup clash at Nottingham, but the 19-year-old has been cleared to play after suffering a head injury.
Asked if the pair can play, Bloomfield said: “Lamine’s not, but Zack is. Zack is available to us. (It was a) potential concussion, but he’s all right. He’s trained all week.
“Lamine won’t be available to us tomorrow, unfortunately. I haven’t got a specific time frame on his. It’s not tomorrow, but we hopefully it’s not too long term.”
That leaves Tahith Chong (hamstring), Reece Burke (quad), Tom Lockyer (ankle), Teden Mengi (knee) and Shandon Baptiste (calf) also still out injured.
On the latter, who has been absent since November 30, Bloomfield said: “Shandon’s someone who I’ve admired from afar as well, watching him play over the years at Brentford. I think he’s a he’s a top player, a very, very good player. and we’d love to have him available right now, but we don’t.
“He’ll be back when he’s back. I’m not sure the exact time period. I’m not trying to hide anything from you. I don’t know. He’s not (back) in the next week or two weeks. I think it’s going to be a couple of weeks, hopefully, if not a little bit longer. But, we’re looking forward to him to welcome him back when we can.”
Be the first to comment