Hatters boss reveals it's 'not great news' for Jamaican international as Luton teen is out with glandular fever

Luton boss Rob Edwards has confirmed it’s ‘not great news’ for centre half Amari’i Bell after he went off during last weekend’s 3-2 Premier League defeat against Aston Villa with a hamstring problem.

The 29-year-old had been a major doubt for the clash having had to be withdraw in the first half of the 6-2 loss to FA Cup holders Manchester City due to hamstring and ankle problems the previous Tuesday, but was passed fit to keep his place in the side that took on Unai Emery’s top four chasers. His afternoon lasted all of five minutes though, the Jamaican international pulling up when running back to prevent a visiting attack, and was immediately substituted, as asked for an update this afternoon, Edwards said: “We’re not too much better off.

"We lost Amari’i, that looks like a lengthy hamstring, early doors against Villa which was actually the other hamstring to the one he was feeling. Last week going into the game, he wasn’t fully right, but not many players are fully right at this stage of the season. You’re always patching one or two things up, but it was his other side. Maybe he was over-compensating or whatever, we don’t know. We still don’t know the full extent of it, he’s got more scans today, but I don’t think it’s great news.”

Meanwhile, one of Bell’s potential replacements in that left-sided centre half role for tomorrow’s top flight match against Crystal Palace, teenager Joe Johnson, who had replaced him during the FA Cup tie, making his fifth senior appearance for the club, has also been ruled out for the next few weeks now too. Edwards continued: “He’s not had loads of playing time but he’s been involved in the squad for a long time this season. He’s got glandular fever, so we need to rest him. He’s out for a few weeks so we just need to look after him and make sure he recovers well. So no pressure on Joe at the moment, it’s just rest up and get better.”

The duo’s absence means that Luton are without a number of players for the trip to Selhurst Park, and also the games with AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest in the next seven days, with Elijah Adebayo, Sambi Lokonga, Jacob Brown, Marvelous Nakamba, Dan Potts and Mads Andersen all still missing, There was once piece of good news, midfielder Tahith Chong, who scored his third goal of the season before going off late on having taken a kick, is all okay, but Edwards admitted he may have to call on some of his younger squad members once more, after both Zack Nelson and Axel Piesold were on the bench against the Villains, adding: “He’s (Chong) fine, trained all week, he’s brand new.

“It’s really hard, we know every game in the Premier League we need to be at full tilt to compete and physically we are competing well, but it pushes us to the limit. Then to do that three times in a week is really difficult for us, never mind the small, tight squad we’ve got at the moment anyway. So we’re going to need the bodies that we’ve got at the moment, other people, it might be younger players, it might be Zack Nelson makes his Premier League debut this week at some stage. He’s been brilliant in training, that could happen and why not? So we’re going to have to rely on the group at the moment and we’ve got full confidence in them.”