Manager Nathan Jones provided a squad fitness update ahead of the weekend’s clash with Preston North End.
After rotating the starting eleven in midweek for the cup defeat against Newport County, the gaffer said he has learned more about his squad and some of those who featured have given him food for thought.
However, he will remain without Alfie Doughty and Fred Onyedinma for Saturday’s match, explaining: “Alfie had a few issues last year with hamstring, so we’ve got to be very careful with him.
"We’ve given him a pre-season where he’s had a base bit of work, he’s had a little minor issue with that. We’ve got to make sure that we build it and rectify that and then bring him back in when it’s safe to do so, that’s all it is really.
“He’s a very high-speed athlete, real potent, so we have to make sure that we build that up as there are certain deficiencies there that we need to rectify before we can give him a run of games, but we’ve always been prepared to do that.”
Turning his focus to Onyedinma, the Welshman said: “He’s closer. He’s one of those who was left over from last year, he contributed a bit in pre-season, but he didn’t feel quite right. We just had to take him back, strip him back basically and build him up, and he’s a lot closer now.
“He had an injury, came back quickly from a groin, just a tight groin and then pulled his hamstring, so it was a real tough one for us as he was just gathering a bit of momentum as well. He’s had an unfortunate year, but sometimes that can happen in your first year, what we’re looking for now is a bit more continuity.”
Both Luton and Preston have drawn their two opening league games and despite the impressive 4-0 win the last time the two sides met, Jones is anticipating a very tricky task against Ryan Lowe’s men.
“They’re an established Championship side, they’re a side that a lot of Championship sides try to emulate, good players, know their positions, know what they’re doing at the level, very difficult to play against, Ryan Lowe’s an excellent manager, so it’s going to be a real, real tough game, as you’ve seen, we’ve had some real good encounters against them, real tough encounters and Saturday will be exactly the same.”