Ex-Hatter Keith Keane surprised that former Cambridge team-mate Berry hasn’t been a regular at Luton

Former Town midfielder Keith Keane expressed his surprise that his old Cambridge team-mate Luke Berry hasn’t been used more by Hatters boss Graeme Jones this term.

The 27-year-old had started 10 of Town’s last 18 league games before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, after playing just 13 minutes in the opening four months of the campaign.

When asked to name his stand-out performers in the current squad at Kenilworth Road, Keane, who was with Berry at the Abbey between May 2015-17 said: “I know the manager (Graeme Jones) talks about Izzy Brown, but for me, he hasn’t played much, but I played with him at Cambridge, Luke Berry.

“I’m not sure exactly what’s been going on, if he’s been injured, or he hasn’t been in favour, but I would have liked to see him play a little bit more.

“I think he’s a very, very good player and I think he would do very well in a team like Luton, like he did last season.

“He pops up with goals, he does a lot of work that he doesn’t really get credit for, he’s a good footballer.

“He only started getting properly noticed because he was scoring goals, but he does a lot more than that for the team, personally speaking from having played with him.

“So I’m just a bit surprised he hasn’t really had much of a chance, whether that’s through injury, or not in favour, I’m not entirely sure to be honest.”

Keane also believes that big names absentees like Danny Hylton and Glen Rea have clearly hampered Jones' attempts to keep his side above the relegation zone this term.

He continued: “Danny Hylton’s been out all season, so he’s been a big loss.

"It's been a tough job for (James) Collins to do everything, get the goals, lead the line on his own, but that’s what a squad's for and that’s what a team’s for.

"You have to all pull together when things aren’t going right.

"He (Rea) would have been a massive part of the manager’s plans, I would have thought.

"But you can't just dwell on it, you can't just say, 'oh well we’ll give up,' just because a few players are injured, that’s why you've got a squad, a squad who won the league and got promoted last season.

"It has just been a tough season, but they're still well in with a chance of staying up."

It's not just Hylton and Rea who Luton have had to do without this term, but flying full backs James Justin and Jack Stacey, who were huge components of the team that won the League One title, before being snapped up by Premier League sides Leicester and Bournemouth respectively.

Keane added: "They were arguably two of Luton’s best players, I know they were full backs, but going forward, they started the attacks off, so to lose them was going to be very hard to replace.

"Without knowing, he (Jones) would have to change a little bit of the way he plays as he hasn’t got the same players in those positions.

"So the team had to change a little bit and maybe that took a while to adjust.

"It obviously did have an impact, as you can see from the quality that left Luton.

"James Justin playing against Aston Villa recently, he had a really good game and Stacey has played quite a lot for Bournemouth.

"So it just shows you the talent that left last season.

"But I said at the start of the season, it doesn't matter how many games they lost, if they stay up that will be an excellent season for them and they've still got a great chance."