Eunan O’Kane has returned to Luton admitting that he ‘fell in love’ with the club during a loan spell last year that ended abruptly when he suffered a double leg break.
The Leeds United midfielder joins the Hatters on an 18-month loan arrangement and becomes the third signing of the January transfer window after Peter Kioso and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Such was his feeling for Luton, that the 29-year-old was even in the dressing room on the final day of last season, celebrating Town’s League One title success.
He said: “When I arrived here I immediately fell in love with the place. I did feel a part of the group last year.
“I have been around and I’ve seen a few games so I do have a soft spot for here already and I’m really excited to be back. There’s been a lot of changes since I was last here, but I’m excited to get going again.
“The club have always been in contact with me, checking how I am. There have been multiple conversations about coming back in different windows, so it’s good to finally be in a position where I’m close to playing, hopefully, and be able to make it happen.”
However, O’Kane is not expected to go straight into the playing squad for a few weeks, as he builds up his fitness.
Asked when he could be ready, the midfielder said: “The answer is, I don’t know exactly. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to contribute between now and the end of the season but at the minute we are still finding that out. We haven’t put a time frame on it, but ideally I’ll be contributing sooner rather than later.
“The big thing in the conversations between myself and the club was about taking our time and it being that longer term option, rather than a short-term where there is the pressure to play immediately.
“It’s more about getting myself healthy and being at my best and then obviously that puts me in the best position to contribute.”