Baptiste eager to showcase his 'natural self' after signing for Luton following Brentford exit

​New Luton signing Shandon Baptiste is confident he is entering an environment with the Hatters where he will be able to showcase his true colours.

The 26-year-old became boss Rob Edwards’ first addition of the summer when agreeing to head to Kenilworth Road after his contract at Premier League outfit Brentford wasn’t renewed. Although only at the Brache for a few days, Baptiste has already been impressed with his new surroundings, and believes joining Rob Edwards’ side will allow him to kickstart a hugely promising career that has been hindered by injuries in recent seasons.

Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “You always want to make a quick connection with your team-mates and from the outside looking in, the club as a whole looks fantastic. Everyone I spoke to has said that as well so it’s definitely important to be somewhere where you feel at home and you feel like you can be your natural self. The manager was lovely to me and he probably epitomised what the club is and meeting everyone has been great.”

On just what that will mean for the watching Luton supporters this term, Baptiste continued: “I would say I’m a box-to-box midfielder. I like to get past players, I like to glide past players, I like to create. I just like to help the team and for me it’s just showing the manager that and showing the fans that. Even last season, any small-sided games if you were on my team you were probably winning, so hopefully I can just show those things here and we can do something great.”

With over 100 games under his belt, Baptiste has managed to find the net on seven occasions, one of them going in Luton's favour and one not. Back in February 2020, he turned Luke Berry’s free kick into his own net at Kenilworth Road to put Town 1-0 up against a Bees outfit containing England hero Ollie Watkins, as Town went on to gain a precious three points in their battle to avoid relegation from the Championship, winning 2-1.

Last season, however, he came off the bench to add Brentford’s third in a 3-1 triumph for Thomas Frank’s side at the Gtech Stadium, as speaking about both strikes, he continued: "It's one-one now, so I’ve helped it out both ways. Hopefully I can score more goals now I'm in this shirt and help this team.”

The midfielder will certainly put the work in to make sure he becomes a success at Kenilworth Road as despite enjoying the trappings of the top flight for the past four seasons, a loan spell with National League South Hampton & Richmond in 2017-18 opened his eyes about just what playing football means to those lower down the footballing pyramid.

He added: “It taught me people fighting for three points, people are fighting to get paid, people are fighting for different reasons. I saw people play at seven, eight o’clock, finish playing at 10, 11 o’clock, get home at 2 o’clock and go to work at six o’clock. It showed me to appreciate where I am, don’t take it for granted and use every day to my advantage. I would like to think I’ve done that and hopefully I can keep doing that.”