Forbes praises Town youngster Panter's 'attitude and desire' as defender pens new deal at Kenilworth Road

Corey Panter during a pre-season friendly for Luton at Northampton last term

Hatters youngster Corey Panter's 'attitude and desire' to improve at Kenilworth Road have been praised by head of academy coaching and professional player development Adrian Forbes

The 20-year-old, who put pen to paper on a new development contract with the club this afternoon, has headed north of the border to finalise a potential loan move to Scottish Premier League side Dundee

Panter played a number of times for the U21s last season, as he stayed at the Brace rather than head out for first team football, with Forbes, who played for the Hatters himself between 2001-04, believing it was a vital opportunity to improve specific areas of his game.

Speaking to the club's official website, Forbes said: “I think from Corey’s own admission he probably had a bit of a quiet start to the season, but credit to him.

“Myself, the manager and Andy Awford (Academy & Development Manager) have all had several chats with him around what we felt he needed to get stronger at, and the areas we felt he needed to develop.

“Certainly from my point of view being on the grass with him every day, he showed a real attitude, work-rate, desire and passion to improve on those areas.

"Having him in the ground every day, not going out on loan and working with him on a daily basis has allowed us to work on those areas, and it is definitely something that has now seen him in the position where we felt he needed to work on.

“He has improved on them but as I said, it is now important he now has a good pre-season and continues to develop.”

On the news that Panter has pledged his future to the Hatters, a club he has now been at for 12 years, Forbes added: "I’m absolutely delighted.

"From my point of view Corey has been an absolute pleasure to work with over the last season and it has been great to be around him.

“I have seen him get stronger over the course of the year and the contract was a reward for all the hard work that he put in.

"Now it is a case of him trying to hit the ground running when he comes back for pre-season.

"Hopefully he can pick up from where he left off."