Luton Town manager Jack Wilshere has confirmed Kal Naismith will be out for a couple of weeks with a calf injury, while Shandon Baptiste, Benny Benagr and Jayden Luker are making progress as they work towards returning to action.
The Hatters host Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup first round tomorrow, with Wilshere having to balance the demands of a busy fixture schedule against the opportunity to give players some recovery time during the forthcoming international break.
Naismith was forced off during Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town and Wilshere confirmed the extent of the issue.
“Kal’s got a calf injury. He’ll be a couple of weeks. Probably the international break comes at a good time for that,” he said.
“It was a little bit frustrating for Kal because I feel like when you’ve got him in that rhythm and he’s playing games, playing games, playing games, it’s obviously really important with his leadership and also how he’s been playing recently to the team.
“You kind of want to keep that going and he obviously missed out against Peterborough through illness, which then kind of breaks his rhythm.”
Naismith had come back into the side for the Huddersfield game but the manager explained that the defender’s withdrawal led to a decision over whether to bring on Joe Johnson or Harrison Ashby, with the latter eventually introduced.
Wilshere also confirmed that Christian Chigozie has been recalled from his loan spell at Hemel Hempstead and will be in the squad against Forest Green.
“George [Johnston] and Mads [Andersen] are excellent, but they have played a lot of minutes. They have played a lot of games together, which I actually think has been really good for them to build that relationship. I think you can see them getting stronger and stronger as the weeks go by. While we still want to keep developing that relationship, we need cover for them as well.”
Chigozie has benefited from gaining experience of senior football during his loan spell, with Wilshere explaining that the next step in his development had been to test himself in the men’s game.
“He’s done well, and that’s what Chigs needs,” said Wilshere. He’d been out injured for a while, [it was] whether we keep him in the club to try and get him up, or we send him out on loan. We chose to keep him robust, which I think was a good decision. And we always knew that the next step for him was to go out and play men’s football.
“So yeah, [he had to] understand what it’s about, to get beat up a bit, to win duels, to play against being tough strikers and he’s done that. He’s back now to help and cover, but probably with a view as well to going out again.”
There was also positive news on Baptiste, who played his first 45 minutes for the under-21s on Tuesday after more than a year out injured. Wilshere said the midfielder was available for selection but would not be rushed into a starting role.
Benagr and Luker have also taken an important step in their recoveries, although the manager stressed the need to be patient with both players.
“Another important step. Again, two players, and I’ve spoken about this before, that we need to be careful with because they came into a pre-season with us and they actually excelled and done everything we wanted from a physical point of view, but also from a technical and tactical point of view.
“Everyone, rightly so, was really excited and unfortunately they broke down. The most important thing is that when we get them back, that we keep them back.”
Hakeem Odoffin continues his recovery but won’t be available for the cup clash.
In team news, Wilshere confirmed Josh Keeley would start in goal, having lost his place to James Shea last month.
The manager said: “Josh will play tomorrow he deserves it, he’s knocked on my door to see what he has to do to get back in the team, I was waiting for that. He knows what he has to do. He will be starting tomorrow and it’ll be good to see him back.”
Devante Cole is also available and will be included in the squad after being left out of recent match-day selections.
The manager said he understood the striker’s frustration after he had scored three goals in three games just over a month ago before dropping out of the squad, but praised the way he had continued to work in training.
“It’s been tough for Devante, I understand that better than anyone in a situation like that as a player where you come in and you score a few goals and then you’re out of the squad,” he said.
“I’ve tried to stay in constant communication with D and then just reiterate the importance of training, staying ready and keeping fit. To his credit, he’s done that and he’ll be in the squad tomorrow.”
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