Hatters boss confirms centre half will start in changed Luton line-up at Coventry
Town manager will alter his side for Carabao Cup contest
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield has confirmed that he will make changes for tonight’s Carabao Cup first round tie at Coventry City, with defender Mark McGuinness getting some much-needed minutes.
The 24-year-old missed a large part of pre-season after he picked up a virus that saw him sent home from the club’s training camp out in Slovenia and miss a number of the following friendlies too. Having now recovered, the Irish international has featured for the U21s since, while also coming on in the latter stages of Town’s two opening League One matches so far, the wins over AFC Wimbledon and Peterborough United, but will now get his chance from the beginning tonight.
Discussing the reasons behind his selection, Bloomfield said: “There will be changes, because in pre-season we managed to get the majority of the group up to a good level in terms of match sharpness and match fitness and there’s been a few of the guys that you could say have been really harshly done by to not play more minutes in the first few league games, so they will be given an opportunity to stake their claim for a spot.
"You know my belief about how important the finishers are and you’ve seen that (at Peterborough), so there’ll be other members of the squad who will get an opportunity to come and play. Mark will be playing on Tuesday night against Coventry as he’s a massive player for our football club. I know Mark can do the right side (of defence) and the left, Mark can play anywhere across the back three. Mark will play, he’s such a big player for us and an opportunity for him to go and play and there will be opportunities for others as well.”
Another duo who have every chance of starting are midfield duo Lamine Fanne and Zack Nelson, the pair both on the bench for Town’s first two league fixtures, until brought on in the second period. Despite freshening things up as Town also have to play Bradford City, Wigan Athletic, Cardiff City and Burton Albion in the league this month, plus another Carabao Cup tie should they triumph this evening, it will be done with a strong focus on progression.
Bloomfield added: “It’s been far from straight forward for the last couple of months and it will continue to do so until the window closes. We want to go and win the game, I’m not making changes just to protect people, I’m making changes because it’s our best route as a football club to try and get through. You look at Zack and Lamine coming on the pitch (at Peterborough), they did great in pre-season. Lamine then had a bit of time out with concussion and Zack’s been harshly done by to not play more minutes.
"We want to give him an opportunity to go and play, while there’s others who will get an opportunity as we believe that’s our best route to try and win the game. We’ve now got a busy few weeks coming up, as if we can win then that gives us four Tuesdays in a row we’re busy playing, if not we’ve got three out of the next four anyway. We’ve got a whole group that’s at it and the whole group contributing, with Walshy’s (Liam Walsh) example, making sure the two starters ahead of him being ready to play the game. That’s exactly the type of culture we’re trying to build and the boys have shown that and we want that to continue to thrive.”