Hatters chief admits it will be an 'absolute bonus' if injured striker features this season

Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield has confirmed that although striker Elijah Adebayo’s recovery from his long-term knee injury is going in the right direction, it will be an ‘absolute bonus’ if the forward can play a part in Town’s efforts to win promotion from League One this term.

The 27-year-old, who has scored 47 goals in 182 outings for the Hatters since arriving from Walsall in February 2021, including reaching double figures in the Premier League, had made 13 appearances for Bloomfield after he took over from previous manager Rob Edwards, without finding the net, before his season was ended prematurely when suffering serious anterior cruciate ligament damage during the 1-1 draw with Leeds United on April 5.

Having gone under the surgeon’s knife immediately, Adebayo is now a few months into his long road back to full fitness, as asked how it was going, Bloomfield who suffered the same injury during his own playing career said: “It’s just a long recovery process for Eli. He’s a long way away, although he’s heading in the right direction. He’s working hard, doing great and I try to interact with him as much as I can as I know how hard it is when you have those long injuries.

"So I try and interact with the big man as much as possible, but a lot of his work is done away from the training ground, it’s in the gym, those long hard slogs of a day when you’ve got to do all the base work before you can start working yourself up. He’s still a while away big Eli, but it’s good news and he’s going through all the processes you need to. It’s going to be well into the next calendar year and anything we get sooner than that is an absolute bonus. So unfortunately for us and for him it’s not going to be any time soon.”

Meanwhile, there was better news regarding another forward who is looking to return for the Hatters, Jacob Brown, the Scotland international having not played since he also picked up a serious knee injury during the 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough in March. Having found the net once in 12 matches for Bloomfield, that in the 1-1 draw against Plymouth Argyle, he is now closing in on being able to reintegrate with his team-mates once more, something that could well happen in the next few weeks.

The Luton boss added: “Browny is running on the AlterG. We hope to have him outside running on the grass on Monday so two more sessions on the AlterG and he should be out on the grass Monday. Then he can start his return to training in terms of the playing process, so still a little way away but it’s heading in the right direction as well.”