Exciting Town teen Benagr sidelined by slight hamstring injury
Youngster will be missing for a few weeks
Luton youngster Benny Benagr has been ruled out of Saturday’s home clash against Leyton Orient after suffering a hamstring issue in Wednesday night’s 2-0 victory over Stockport County.
The 18-year-old has been nothing short of a revelation so far this term, as called up at short notice to head out with the first team on their training camp to Spain, impressed boss Jack Wilshere and his coaching staff enough to feature in several pre-season friendlies afterwards, then getting his chance in the first team when starting the Carabao Cup contest against Gillingham.
Benagr introduced himself to the Luton supporters in style at Priestfield, capping his debut with the third goal, as he has been involved in every League One contest since, coming on against Reading and Notts County, also starting in the second round contest at Premier League giants Chelsea, where he didn’t look out of place either.
On Sunday, the winger was introduced at Mansfield during the interval, one of three changes made by boss Jack Wilshere, as he was then included from the start when the division’s other Hatters were the visitors in midweek. Causing a buzz whenever he got the ball and looked to take on his man, Benagr didn't reappear after the interval, with an injury the only possible reason, as he drew applause from the home stands when he made his way to the dug-outs as the contest restarted.
That was confirmed by Wilshere today, who said: “Benny came off with a tight hammy. Unfortunately he does have a slight problem with his hammy, not a bad problem. Benny’s one that we need to carry on working with, from a footballing point of view, yes, but also from a physical point of view. He had a little bit of a tough season last year with the 21s, missed some games and we wanted to keep him there for pre-season, and then he came to us in pre-season.
“The jump up in intensity is a little bit, as he probably didn’t expect to fly like he did, maybe he did, he is a confident kid who just takes every challenge, but he went from playing in 21s games to four weeks later, starting for the first team. That is some jump up in physicality and it’s important now we use this time to make him robust, make him strong in other areas. Unfortunately he’ll be out, but he won’t be too long.”
With a large chunk of Benagr’s season ruined by injury last year, Wilshere wants to make doubly sure that doesn’t happen to the former Cardinal Newman pupil, who signed a new contract with the club last month, once more. adding: “I think after the year he had last year, where it was more his hip, we have to make him strong in all areas, not just on the pitch, but off the pitch with his gym stuff, his nutrition and everything like that.
"That is part of his development, so we don’t want to take too many risks with him, but we also want him because he can help the team. You can tell the energy he gives, as the crowd loves him. He’s one of them, he’s come through Luton academy, he’s from Luton, and that’s not why he’s in the team, he’s in the team because he deserves it. Nothing phases him, he just takes on every challenge. The conversation we had as staff, after a game like that (Mansfield), is it right to bring a young player in, but he showed it was.”