Edwards confident he has the options in his Luton squad to cope with the absence of Gunners midfielder

Luton boss Rob Edwards is confident he has the players within his squad to cope with the extended absence of Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga after the Belgian international was ruled out for a few months with a hamstring injury picked up against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.

The 23-year-old signed a season-long loan deal on transfer deadline day and was expected to play a huge role for Town this term, stepping into one of the double pivot spots alongside Marvelous Nakamba in front of the back three, with Edwards looking to make his team harder to beat, especially away from Kenilworth Road.

It showed signs of real promise against Fulham on his debut, as although the Cottagers triumphed 1-0, their threats on Luton’s goal were minimised as Town went with two banks of four behind striker Carlton Morris to frustrate their hosts.

Lokonga then started again on Saturday in the 1-1 draw with Wolves, as the Hatters gave their best performance of the campaign, before going off early in the second half, Edwards revealing the extent of his injury in midweek.

With Town now heading to Everton tomorrow and no obvious replacement, long-serving Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu the closest Luton possess, on trying to plug the gap, the Hatters manager said: “I’ve got some decisions to make.

"Clearly Sambi’s going to be missing after his injury against Wolves so there’s one that’s forced anyway.

“I still think we’ve got people who can do that role, I’ve got real confidence in the group.

"It just gives someone else an opportunity now and that’s it.

“All our midfielders are all options, so I'm still comfortable that we've got more than enough in the ranks to cope with it.

"It's just unfortunate as we brought him in with a real eye on him helping us and it looked like he was really going to do that in the first couple of games as well.

"So of course I'm disappointed from a selfish point of view for the club, but more for him as well because he's a great lad and he's just desperate to play.”

Facing period of time out, Lokonga will now continue his rehabilitation at the Emirates until a point where he is able to come back and train with Town once more, as Edwards continued: “He’s back there and I think there'll be a plan for him and we’ll make sure we do the right thing for him as the player is the most important thing in this obviously.

“We’re really disappointed for him because he’s made a great impression on us.

"He’s a brilliant lad and he wanted to come and play football.

"He made a great start, but we’ve got to support him now and make sure he gets the best treatment he can.

“It was just a bit of a bad one.

"I’m no physio, it doesn’t need surgery, it’s just a high grade one, it’s just going to need a lot more time.

"There’s different grades of them, Ross Barkley for instance was a lower one, that’s why he was just a few weeks, but unfortunately Sambi it was a higher one and just where it was as well means it’s going to be a longer period of time.

"That’s why it was an unfortunate one.”

One thing that Edwards doesn’t expect to do is elevate a defender further up the pitch in a bid to try and take the place of Lokonga, following in the footsteps of champions Manchester City, who done so with John Stones, while Liverpool have also been playing Trent Alexander Arnold in a more advanced role at times too.

Asked if that could happen, he added: “You’re getting a bit like Pep now. Have you been watching a bit of City?

“I’m not sure we’re at that stage right now.

"I get it though, we’ve got some talented defenders who can step into that role and I think have done it in the past, but it’s not something I’m considering right now.”