Bloomfield not afraid to make 'bold' decisions as Hatters duo are left out of Owls draw
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Luton boss Matt Bloomfield declared he wasn’t afraid of taking the ‘bold’ decisions needed for the Hatters as they look to escape the Championship relegation zone this season after leaving long-serving midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu and defender Tom Holmes out of the squad that faced Sheffield Wednesday yesterday afternoon.
Town finally stopped the rot of 12 successive away defeats at Hillsborough, earning a 1-1 draw, as all four of the club’s most recent signings were involved, Thelo Aasgaard starting, with Millenic Alli, Josh Bowler and Kal Naismith all coming on as substitutes. The bench to face the Owls didn’t include Mpanzu though, who has played just 30 minutes since Bloomfield took over, meaning he wasn’t involved in Luton’s match day squad for the first time since March 2023 when the Hatters drew 1-1 at Sunderland in the Championship.
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Hide AdThey were also without centre half Holmes as well, who hasn’t featured since the 3-2 defeat at Oxford United, fuelling speculation that the pair could leave before tomorrow night’s transfer deadline, as Bloomfield needs to move some of his squad on in order to name the 25-man squad for the remainder of the campaign. Asked about the duo, he said: “It was a decision not to bring them. I know Pelly has had an incredible history at the football club and he’s always in the match day squad.


"Again I’ve got to make the right decisions for what I feel is right on the day. Holmesy as well, with having Kal back we didn’t need two central defenders. We’ve got a slightly inflated squad at this moment in time so some of these decisions are going to have to be made. I’m not always going to get them right, but I’ll always make the true decisions that I feel are right in the moment.”
Defender Amari’i Bell also missed out with a hamstring problem, while recent addition Isiah Jones didn’t travel up either and discussing the pair, Bloomfield continued: “Amari’i trained yesterday and he’s fine but, especially on a big pitch against quick forwards, we were worried about that exposure, but Amari’i will be fine.
"Izzy just had something personal going on this week. Everything’s fine, nothing to worry about, but he wasn’t able to be here with us today which is fine. The lads are humans right and we’ve got to look after them at the right time. Izzy’s a great boy, I’m really looking forward to working with him, he’s all in but he just had a little something.”
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Hide AdLuton’s team that took the field had a surprising look to it, particularly in defence, with both full backs changing, Joe Johnson coming in for his first start under Bloomfield, as did Reuell Walters, Daiki Hashioka dropping to the bench. Asked about the alterations, Bloomfield added: “They’re young lads with huge potential to be very good players for us as a football club.
"Amari’i felt his hamstring a little bit on Wednesday and wasn’t able to train. We did a lot of work with Joe so we thought it was the right thing to keep him in the team. I thought Reuell deserved the opportunity to play at right full back. We’re trying to get the balance right within the back four, so I don’t mind bold decisions, brave decisions. I always have to do what I feel is right and if that comes across as whatever then that’s fine. Every decision I make will be for the best of the football club and I felt that was the right thing to do.”
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