Luton’s two Red Devils are both in contention to face former side Manchester United on Sunday, with Hatters boss Rob Edwards facing no further fresh injury worries ahead of the Premier League clash at Kenilworth Road.
Teden Mengi joined Town from the Old Trafford giants in the summer and has had an impressive debut campaign at his new club.
However, the central defender missed the 4-0 win over Brighton, returned for the 4-4 draw at Newcastle, but a knock to his ankle saw the 21-year-old named as an used substitute in last week’s disappointing 3-1 bottom-of-the-table defeat to Sheffield United.
“T’s fully fit. He’s had a good week’s training so he’s available,” said Edwards.
All but two of his 16 Premier League appearances have come as a starter and the manager said: “He’s been brilliant this year. For a young player to come in a step in, to move away and out of his comfort zone – he’s been at Manchester United for a long time – I know he’s had some loans, but to move away, to make that brave decision and then to perform in the way he has, at the highest level, is really astounding.
“Now, I’m not surprised at all in anything he does, but I think he surprised me initially in how quickly he adapted to what we want, how we play, his new surroundings, new team-mates, but really pleasantly.
“We hope that can continue. He’s got such a high ceiling, so it’s great to have him fully fit with us.”
One of those starts came at Old Trafford when Town were edged out to a narrow 1-0 defeat, but he’ll hope to face his boyhood club again in Sunday’s late kick-off.
“He will indeed. It’s one he’s looking forward to,” said Edwards.
And equal in that ambition with be Tahith Chong who had 30 minutes as a substitute against Manchester United, the club he signed for from Feyenoord when he was 16.
And after the latest of a strong showing, coming off the bench, against Sheffield United, the midfielder is pushing for a starting berth.
Edwards said: “He’s certainly in the frame (to start). He’s been pushing for starts for quite a long time, but it just shows the strength in those areas that we’ve got that he’s not quite been able to get them.
“He’s someone that trains full-throttle every single day and he’s certainly pushing. I’m really pleased with how he’s been affecting games at the moment.
“That’s (a starting place) got to be his challenge, but everyone’s as well, because we’ve got to start games well. If you don’t, like you saw last week, going behind, it’s difficult to come back.
“Playing against th level of opposition we’ll be playing against in the next few weeks, if you don’t start well, then we’re going to be struggling. That’s the key for all the lads.”
Only half of his 12 appearance this term have been in the starting 11, but Edwards said: “I think Tahith has been really effective in lots of games, coming on when there’s a bit more space and we’ve wanted that transitional threat or maybe a bit more balance maybe, with that left foot on that left hand side.
“He’s been really effective. I thought he did really well when he came on the other day (against Sheffield United), and injected some pace and quality in certain areas.”
And the Luton boss knows that, to stand a chance against a United side on a four-game winning streak, Town will have to start better than against the Blades last weekend, where they were 2-0 down at half time.
“If we’re good then hopefully we can stop them from having the game they want to have. That’ll be our aim, so we’ll concentrate on our performance,” said Edwards.
“If our performance is good, then who knows, maybe we’ve got a chance. But if we don’t perform to our best, to our maximum then they’re Manchester United, they will be too good. We’ve got to look after ourselves.”
