James Collins says that the commitment of Luton’s out of contract players proves the strength of the Hatters dressing room the threat of injury.
The striker has another year on his current contract but some of his team-mates aren’t as fortunate and, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, uncertainty remains for players whose deals expire at the end of the month.
Town return to Championship action on Saturday after three months away, with the visit of Preston North End. It’s the first clash in a final run of nine games compacted into a month that will extend beyond the deals of first-teamers Luke Berry, Danny Hylton, Callum McManaman, Glen Rea, Elliot Lee and Marek Stech. The club also has options to extend the contracts of Kazenga LuaLua, Jacob Butterfield and Donervon Daniels.
Severance packages would see out-of-contract players across the Championship paid up until the end of July, when the campaign is due to finish, but the threat of injury has already seen striker Lyle Taylor refuse to play for Town’s relegation rivals Charlton.
With all of Luton’s first team squad back in training, Collins said: “I think that just says a lot about the group that we’ve got here.
“Obviously, we’ve got 12 lads out of contract and they’re all willing to play and stay with us until the end of the season so that just proves that we have a great group of lads in the dressing room.”
Injuries are a concern all round, with players only allowed to return to full contact training this month.
“It might be a little niggle in your mind about getting knocks here, there and everywhere but that’s just down to you being professional and looking after your body,” said Collins.
“You know you’ve got nine games left and you’ve got to do everything you can to try and stay fit and look after your body. Whether that be missing a days’ training because you feel a bit stiff, or training a bit more because you feel like you need to do more. Whatever the individual feels like they have got to do to be fit for the Saturday, Tuesday games, then it’s down to the individual.
“I think we’ve got a professional group here, we’ve got lads that really look after themselves and we’ve also got staff that understand different players’ situation as well, such as coming back from long-term injuries and they can’t train as much. They’re really understanding about that. I think if everyone stays on track then we will be fine.”
