Striker Ali Al-Hamadi could be available for Luton Town’s Vertu Trophy quarter-final against Plymouth Argyle tonight after missing the 1-1 League One draw with Burton Albion.
The Iraq international was not included in Saturday’s squad after suffering a knock to his ankle, but boss Jack Wilshere is hopeful the issue has settled and the frontman will be assessed ahead of the last-eight tie at Kenilworth Road.
“He had a knock. He got a kick on his ankle,” Wilshere said on Saturday, adding: “If we played Tuesday, he would have been all right. But I think that 24 hours late, we waited till this morning to see if he’s all right. But it was literally just a kick, so hopefully it’s settled down today. It was really inflamed. And we’ll see how he is tomorrow before Tuesday.”
With Luton lacking cutting edge in recent weeks and surrendering a lead deep into stoppage time against Burton, Al-Hamadi’s return would be a timely one against a Plymouth side who have already beaten the Hatters twice in the league this season.
Wilshere admitted the leveller against Burton, which sparked a furious reaction from fans and confrontations with him and captain Kal Naismith, highlighted concerns about his squad.
“We scored and then we tried to hold on to the lead and that tells me that the players are lacking confidence. They’re lacking belief,” he said.
“But I think you can see, they’re trying. They’re really trying and it’s hard for them right now. It’s frustrating, but it’s not through a lack of trying and I thought their efforts were outstanding.
“We need to do better with the ball and we need to be more confident, but without doing that, I thought we controlled a lot of their [Burton’s] long balls and the second balls, apart from that one chance where we switched off. It hurts.”
Tonight’s task is a formidable one. Plymouth have completed the league double over Luton this term and arrive in Bedfordshire in blistering form, having thrashed League One leaders Cardiff City 5-2 at the weekend. They have scored 12 goals in their last three EFL matches, their best such run since October 2003.
In-form striker Aribim Pepple – who joined the Pilgrims from Luton in the summer having never played for Town – has nine goals this season, including two against Cardiff, and could partner Lorent Tolaj, who has 17 in all competitions. Their 28-goal haul between them underlines the threat Wilshere’s side must contain.
With confidence fragile after three winless games in a week, and defensive lapses proving costly, Wilshere will want a response. The potential return of Al-Hamadi offers encouragement, but against a Plymouth side brimming with goals and belief, Luton will need more than just bodies back. They will need to show they can attack with conviction, especially as a home tie against Northampton awaits the victors with a shot at reaching a Wembley final.
Wilshere believes the former Middlesbrough man is one player who can offer some, going forwards, despite Saturday’s game seeing Isaiah Jones’ first outing at right-back.
“Credit to Izzy because he’s been out [injured] for a while and he’s now played three games in a week, which is not easy and he works really hard in the games, he’s really hard to play against,” Wilshere said.
“He gets forward, he comes back. I said before the game that we need options, variation in attack, and Izzy is someone who gives you that because you can be probably a little bit more expansive. I thought some nice moments.”
Wilshere also explained his half-time reshuffle against Burton, which saw Kasey Palmer withdrawn after being booked, with Davy van den Berg introduced as the Dutch loan signing continues to build match fitness.
“It was a little bit because he’d been booked, but also we wanted to get Davy on the pitch as well,” Wilshere confirmed. “Davy has has come in and he’s been a little bit stop-start off the bench and then he only got 10 minutes the other night, so we want to get Davy up to full fitness. So once Kasey got booked, I felt like it was also had to look after Kasey a little bit.
“He’s played a lot of minutes since he came here from Hull, where he didn’t play a lot at the start of the season. So his minutes have increased a lot. So we have to look after him as well, but no, we wanted to get Davy on the pitch.”
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