Jack Wilshere says Luton Town will make a late call on Hakeem Odoffin’s fitness ahead of Saturday’s trip to Mansfield Town, while confirming Isaiah Jones is set to miss out again.
Both players featured in the Vertu Trophy final victory over Stockport County at Wembley last weekend, but were absent from the midweek 2-1 win over Northampton Town.
The Hatters have a chance to finally break into the top six if they beat Mansfield tomorrow and champions elect Lincoln beat Stevenage, which would put Town’s play-off destiny in their own hands with three games to go. So, Wilshere’s selection decisions could prove crucial as the Hatters look to build on three successive wins in the league for the first time since April 2025.
Defender Odoffin has returned to training, although Wilshere admits a decision is still to be made on whether he is ready to start.
“He trained today for the first time this week, since Sunday. We’ll make a decision on him. He’s OK,” the manager said.
“[It’s] probably really good that he missed a game and he’s fresher than he would have been if he did play. But we’ve got to make a decision on him because we know what’s coming up.
“This is a really important game for us as well, so we have everyone available apart from Izzy. So yeah, we’ve got decisions to make.”
Since returning from medical and injury issues earlier this season, Odoffin has become an increasingly influential figure within the squad, and he’s has not lost in Luton colours when he’s been in the starting XI.
Wilshere said: “First of all, he’s a character. I mentioned that a lot this season with him. I noticed straight away the type of character he was when I got here.
“He was obviously injured, but a lot of the time you can see how a player or person is by the way that the players respond to him and how much they care about them.
“When he started to come back, you could see him training that he’s a talker, he’s a leader, he’s an organiser, which we need.
“I always knew that he would be important. I didn’t know where, when he first came back. I think about the Huddersfield game. He played at right back from the Bolton game, he played at right back as well.
“And he can still help us at right back, but I think he’s probably played his best football in the middle. He’s really important.”
In contrast, Wilshere confirmed that Jones is unlikely to feature in the coming days as he continues to recover from a hamstring issue.
Asked if there is a concern that his season might be over, Wilshere said: “No. Well, I think there always is a doubt with hamstrings, but what I think is important is, I was saying, treat the man, not the scan.
“And the scan was actually quite good, but also then it works the same, even if it is a good scan. So he will be out for tomorrow and probably Tuesday.
“But then, we’ve got a good medical team here. They know the importance of these next couple of weeks that we’ve got coming up and we’ll look to push everyone.”
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