Manager Nathan Jones recently described versatile Luton star Jordan Clark as “the best free transfer ever”, and while I’m not one to shout down the opinion of the man, least of all one who has Luton sitting in fifth place in the Championship table, I would argue defender Tom Lockyer can’t be far behind.
The Wales international first caught my eye when he was playing for Bristol Rovers when they beat us in League Two shortly after John Still had been sacked, and then again at Charlton, so I was delighted when he joined the club 15 months ago.
Injury hampered him last season and at the start of this one, but when Lockyer has been in the team there is no doubting his qualities and he is playing as well now as he has ever done in a Town shirt.
Given that he didn’t get much of a pre-season, I thought that was pretty remarkable anyway, but then after the win over Hull at the weekend, the Welshman revealed he had been hit hard with Covid-19 in the summer, to the point that he was heavily fatigued.
To have gone through all that and be back to playing at the level he is now speaks volumes about his character, while his defensive qualities have never been in question.
He complements the other defenders in the side nicely, and his comfort with the ball at his feet makes him a huge upgrade on Matty Pearson, as excellent as the now Huddersfield Town man was for us in that magical League One season.
Lockyer has been present in five of the seven clean sheets the Town have kept this season with body-on-the-line performances at Barnsley and Millwall particularly memorable.
At 26-years-old, the defender is coming into his prime years, which is fantastic as we look to cement ourselves at the top end of the Championship and higher.
There have been many heroes in this wonderful first third of the campaign, many of whom get more plaudits than Lockyer, but make no mistake the centre-back is right at the top of his form at the minute and is playing as well as anyone in the side.
Long may it continue!
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