Edwards always felt Whites defender Drameh had the right attributes following their spell with England

Luton boss Rob Edwards always felt that Leeds United full back Cody Drameh had all the attributes to make it in the top flight having worked with him in the England youth age-groups earlier in his career.

The Hatters chief was part of the national set-up, working as a coach with the England U20s in 2019, while he was then appointed head coach for the U16s.

Drameh, then at Fulham, was also with the Three Lions at that time, earning caps for the U18s and U20s, also playing 77 minutes for the U21s in their 3-2 defeat against Georgia in November 2021.

He moved to Elland Road in 2020 and after playing eight times for Leeds since, is now on loan at Luton for the rest of the season, following an impressive stint with Cardiff last term.

Having seen him at close-quarters a few years ago, it was no surprise to Edwards that he would be a success, saying: “There was not much doubt really, all the attributes were there.

“A really good mentality, technically he’s a really good footballer and physically fantastic as well.

"They’re pretty good attributes to have, especially in this modern game now, so there wasn’t too much doubt from my point of view.”

When asked whether he thought their time spent together at England helped in pushing the deal through, Edwards continued: “Potentially, we had a really good zoom call and spoke about a few things.

"He was able to ask me some questions, we spoke about that time with England, talked about his strengths and how he fits into our group and where we think we can still help him develop as well.

"I think that would have helped, but it is good when you know a player from previous, there is an element of trust there as well.”

On the reunion, Drameh himself said: "He mentioned that to me, we had a meeting, so it's a familiar face round here and hopefully we can just pick up where we left off.”

Drameh has drawn some comparisons to one of Town’s former players, James Justin, who turned out for the England U20s and U21s, then making his senior debut against Hungary last year.

Asked if there were any likenesses between the two players, Edwards added: “I think there’s similarities, but they’re different.

"I would never like to put unnecessary pressure on anyone and compare them to someone else, they’re individuals and Cody is Cody.

"What I would say is some of his strengths, I think he has fantastic energy and quality going forward, which is going to be a big plus for us.

"He’s equally adept in defending one v one situations which I know James’ real strength is as well.

"James is someone who did great here and has kicked on and Cody is going to want to come in and hopefully we can give him a platform to show people what he’s about as well, his parent club and ourselves.

"I’m really looking forward to working with him.”