Jack Wilshere is confident he has options to fill the midfield space left by the suspended George Saville as Luton prepare to host Rotherham in League One tomorrow, though one key player won’t be available, while others that have been out injured continue to make progress on their returns
The manager revealed that creative talisman Jordan Clark, who has been out for close to three weeks with a calf injury, is not expected back until the at least the end of this month, while Saville’s suspension for picking up five yellow cards removes the side’s most experienced anchoring midfielder.
With country call-ups for the midfielder, plus Marvelous Nakamba [Zimbabwe] and striker Ali Al-Hamadi, who scored for Iraq last night, Luton could have postponed tomorrow’s game but opted not to because the pair have not featured much this term. Also, because while Saville can’t play for the Hatters anyway, he is clear to play for Northern Ireland.
It forces Wilshere to assess alternatives in a part of the pitch where control and discipline tend to decide games, yet the manager insists the opportunity could open the door for others.
“I think he is a couple of weeks away, maybe two, three weeks,” Wilshere said of Clark, adding: “Looking at the schedule when there’s the period where we start to play a lot of games is probably when we’ll start to see him come back and train. And we need to be careful around that time as well because we know how good Jordan is and how important he is but we want him till the end of the season.
“We trust everyone in the squad completely and of course we miss Sav and Ali and Marv but we feel like it’s a good moment for someone else to come in and play a game and show us what they can do.”
Saville’s absence poses its own problem as the 32-year-old has started every league game so far this season and is one of the set-piece takers.
“Sav’s been excellent and I spoke to him after the Stockport game because I didn’t want him to feel like we were playing it without him and it wasn’t that,” Wilshere said. “He’s obviously got a yellow card as well which came into our thinking as well, that that [Rotherham] can be his game that he misses.
“He’s been excellent. He has a way on the pitch and listen, it’s through his experiences, through being a higher level, having such a long career, he has a lot of know-how in possession, out of possession, game management, stuff like that, he’s helped us with.
“We’re looking at it. Hacks [Hakeem Odoffin] is someone who can play there. Lamine’s [Fanne] played there, Zack Nelson, who’s an option to play there as well. So with the players we’ve got back as well. We’ve got enough options there.”
Wilshere confirmed several players are edging towards a return but tomorrow’s game is likely to come too soon.
“Brownie [Jacob Brown] played with the under-21s on Tuesday, played really well and completed 60 minutes which is amazing for him,” the manager said. “He’s been out a long time and I know that injury well and it’s important that you take the right steps at the right time to build your confidence. He’s getting closer. We’ll have to assess a few others before we announce a squad.
“Reuell’s [Walters] back in training, it’s probably a bit too soon for him. Joe Johnson’s back in training. Again, probably a bit too soon for him. Shayden [Morris] joined us for the first bit of training yesterday and today so it’s steps in the right direction but probably a little bit too soon for a few as well.”
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