Bloomfield relieved that surgery proved the right option for summer signing Odoffin
Midfielder went under the knife recently
Luton manager Matt Bloomfield has confirmed it was the right call to send new signing Hakeem Odoffin for surgery to cure what was a non-musculoskeletal issue injury recently.
The 27-year-old moved to Kenilworth Road in the summer, but hasn’t played for the Hatters yet, after the issue was picked up when he underwent his medical prior to signing. Despite that, Town still decided to go ahead with the transfer despite, as Bloomfield was eager to acquire the former Northampton and Livingston utility player, who had been voted Rotherham United’s Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year last term, to help boost their attempts to win promotion to the Championship.
With the procedure now done, Odoffin won’t be ready to play just yet, but can begin making steps towards doing so, as Bloomfield said: “He’s had a successful operation and actually we’re mightily relieved we went down the surgery route. Like I said before it was just a little operation that he needed, because had he blocked another ball and got hit, it could have been not great for himself.
"So very good for us to pick that up on the medical. He’s sorted, he’s now taking a slow road back to recovery, he’s on his feet but he’s not on the grass yet. We’ve got to let everything heal and get him back. Again he’s someone who we’re really looking forward to having when he’s back fully fit.”
Another player who Town are looking to welcome back to full training in the next seven days is Tahith Chong, the attacker not playing at all this term since suffering an injury in the early stages of pre-season. Having made just seven appearances for Bloomfield since he took over, the boss added: “Chongy is on the grass, I don’t think he’s far away. Next week he’s back in with us, he’s ticking off with the medical now, back in with the sports science, doing the last few bits on his own and then coming back in with us as soon as he can.
"He’s another boy who we’ve not had as much as we’d love to since we came in in January. He’s not been available to us as at the back end of last season, he was working his way back to full fitness and then unfortunately he picked up an injury on day two in pre-season. So he’s not far away and we hope to have him available again as soon as possible. He’s another one who can really help us with the width, the balance with a left foot, so again someone we’re waiting for.”