Baptiste available for FA Cup clash as Hatters duo are back in contention

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere has hinted that midfielder Shandon Baptiste could end his 14-month injury nightmare when potentially being named in the squad that takes on National League outfit Forest Green in the FA Cup first round on Saturday.

The 28-year-old last played a first team game back on August 23, 2025, when he came on for the final 17 minutes of a 1-0 home defeat against Cardiff City, as he then suffered serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) damage in training that has seen him sidelined ever since. However, he was back on the pitch on Tuesday afternoon when starting for the Hatters’ U21s in their New Wave Championship clash against MK Dons at the Brache, playing the opening 45 minutes of a 4-2 triumph.

It means that, with Luton taking a break from league action to begin their FA Cup campaign at Kenilworth Road tomorrow afternoon, then with nine substitutions allowed, the ex-Brentford and Oxford midfielder could earn a place on the bench for the first round tie, as Wilshere said: “He’s available. I think it’s too soon to say he’s going to start the game, he’s not close to that yet, but it’s important for Shandon as he’s worked really hard. He got his first minutes on Tuesday and then it’s always about how they recover. The most pleasing thing for me was that on Thursday, he was on the pitch training and looking sharp, so he’s in my thoughts as he deserves it for the work he’s come through, but it’s probably too soon for him to start.”

Having missed large chunks of his own career with injury, Wilshere suffering from ankle and knee issues while at Arsenal, then asked just how it would have felt for Baptiste to finally be back out there in the week, the manager continued: “He probably felt it on Wednesday in his legs, but from my experience, your confidence grows each time you step back on the pitch.

"There’s markers that you have individually. Of course we have them here with the medical team and certain markers they have to get before they can take the next step, but you always have that as a player as well. I was really clear with Shandon when he first started training, which seems like a while ago now, there will never be any pressure on him to rush back.

"Take his time, find his rhythm again, tick that off, then the next one was to play 45 minutes and now the next one is to play another game, play a little bit longer. He’s training and he’s getting better and better in training. He’s a good player, a good footballer that has obviously played at a higher level. Someone that we look forward to welcoming back, but at the right time.”

With such a lengthy absence behind him, the temptation would be for Baptiste to try and take things easy on his latest comeback, but it’s not really something that Wilshere believes in, as he stated: “That is always the challenge, but you also don’t want to put that restriction on him or anyone who’s in that situation, because they’re coming back, they’ve spent a year, and I’ll say it, suffering on the sidelines, because it is.

"It’s not nice, it’s tough when the players are going out to training and you’re in the gym, that is tough. Then he kind of gets let loose again on the pitch and you have those feelings running through you that you had when you were a kid. You just love the game, you want to play, you want to play in the small-sided games and you want to do the thing that you haven’t been able to do for a while. That is always a challenge and that is down to us as a collective, coaching staff and medical staff, to give him the right challenge at the right time, but also give him the freedom as well.”

It wasn’t just Baptiste making his comeback from injury on Tuesday either, as both Benny Benagr and Jayden Luker also had run-outs in the first half. Benagr had been back on the bench for the League One clash at Peterborough United on Saturday, his first involvement since the 2-0 win over Stockport County in early November, while Luker had been missing since the Carabao Cup trip to Gillingham back in August, both out with hamstring problems.

With Wilshere allowed to pick nine players as substitute on Saturday, the pair are likely to be included, as he added: “Another important step again, two players that we need to be careful with because they came into a pre-season with us and they excelled, they did 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, we keep them back. They’ve obviously not been as long as Shandon has, but two players that we need to take our time with and be patient with, as when they come back we want to keep them back. We trained today with 20 players, so one will have to miss out. I’ve got to make that decision later on, but there’s a few spots up for grabs.”