Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu could make his 300th appearance for Luton Town this afternoon at West Bromwich Albion, but Manager Nathan Jones says there’s still more to come from the midfielder.
The 27-year-old is the Hatters’ current longest serving player and, if selected against the Baggies in this afternoon’s Championship clash, he’ll become only the 23rd player in Town’s history to reach a triple century of appearances. That last was Jake Howells in 2015.
He joined the Hatters initially on loan as a defender from West Ham United in 2013 and then signing permanently, but it looked for much of the summer like his record for Luton would end at 298, as he was out of contact amid rumoured interest from Middlesbrough, Blackburn Rovers and even West Brom at one stage.
But he penned a new deal in July, which potentially could see Mpanzu reach the 400-game mark too. That’s because he has become a mainstay of Town’s team in the last five years. He was plagued by injuries in his early Luton career, but last term, as with the last five seasons, he made 46 appearances, having played for the club in four divisions from the Conference to the Championship.
At his best, as evidenced in the 1-0 win against arch-rivals Watford last term, Mpanzu is unplayable, and this summer he became an international player for DR Congo, but there are still some question marks about his consistency.
He is now at the age where most footballers are considered to be entering the prime of their careers, and asked if the midfielder has reached his potential, Jones said: “No and that is the reason why we have re-signed him and why he re-signed, because he believes that there is still a lot to come from him.
“He isn’t the finished article, he has been a work in progress for many years, where we started from in 2016, he was someone that was very raw and very impulsive, not able to stay fit for periods of time and not able to be durable so that we could get sustained work into him.
“He didn’t really have a fixed position because he came here as a centre-half, I played him right-wing, he scored against Mansfield away, we moved him to right-wing and he scored and assisted in the game so he can do a bit of everything. I played him up front against Hartlepool!
“Now we are at a point where he is durable as you would find, he is powerful, strong, and has established himself as a midfield player that can do both sides of the game, but on the one hand, now has real quality to his game. There is just a few final bits before he becomes a real top, consistent performer at Championship level.”
Luton travel to the Hawthorns today aiming to maintain their 100 per cent start to the Championship campaign by ending a winless 25-year record Albion, albeit with just four trips there since them. However, that 1996 triumph was one of only three victories in the Black Country since 1897.
The Baggies, having been relegated from the Premier League last term, are one of the favourites to return straight back to the top flight, but Jones said: “Records are there to be broken. We wont go there with any history in mind, it is all about the here and now.
“We have been there before, gave a wonderful account of ourselves in the (League) Cup not long ago when they were a Championship side and we were a League Two side. They had just came down from the Premier League and I thought we were wonderful, only for a little bit of quality in the final third, we could have won the game.
“Bearing in mind they had the likes of Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez, it is always a tough game but it is a game we should relish. It is a game that at the end of the day, gives you an opportunity to put a marker down.”
It will also be the first time in 17 months that Town fans will be able to travel to an away ground after the Coronavirus shut-out of spectators.
“Our away fans have always been absolutely wonderful” said Jones, adding: “We have gone to Newcastle with a massive, massive following. We expect them to get behind the team and all we have to do is make sure we put in a performance that they can be proud of.
“It is what we have waited for, it is what we have worked hard for years and years, to go up against these big sides. We don’t want to stop here, we are on a journey we believe and this is one of the stops along that journey and we have to relish it, not be intimidated, not be fearful about it.
“We have players here that have played in front of big crowds and in big stadiums. It is about us adapting and making sure we bring our best version of ourselves, then if we do that, I’ll be looking forward to the game.”
