Hatters chief is confident he can get injury-hit Baptiste playing regularly
Bloomfield hopeful former Brentford midfielder will make his return soon
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield believes he and the club’s medical staff can get midfielder Shandon Baptiste playing regularly for the Hatters this season.
The 26-year-old was signed on a free transfer in the summer after his exit from Premier League side Brentford, were he was restricted to just 58 league appearances in over four years due to a number of injuries. They have persisted during his time at Kenilworth Road as well, starting seven matches for Town, with 12 outings in total, but missing a large chunk of the campaign due to hamstring and calf problems.
Having not played since the 4-2 loss at Norwich City on November 30, Baptiste is finally starting to close in on a return, which Bloomfield, who was a big fan of the Grenada international before being appointed, admitted will have to be done carefully, saying: “Shandon’s back in training so we hope to welcome him back very, very soon. Tomorrow night’s (trip to Sunderland) come too soon for him but he’s back in the group.
"He’s obviously a really good player so we’re really happy that he’s back on the grass competing for a place in midfield and we think that his return is not too far away. He’s very good, can handle the ball, got a good physicality about him, played at a very good level. He’s obviously missed quite a bit of football over the years with a couple of injuries, but we believe that we can look after him and get him playing regularly again.”
On just how he will do that, Bloomfield continued: “We’re going to have to be really cautious and careful with him. It’s about trying to get the balance right between exposing him enough that he builds up that robustness, but we don’t want him to have any more injuries. So it’s about training the best way we can, doing the training that we believe works and trying to include him as soon as we can and get him on the pitch, because the only place that you can really build up your fitness is getting out on the pitch as soon as possible.”
If Luton can get Baptiste fit and staying fit, then they will have a real boost to their midfield options for the run-in, which has become a relegation battle to avoid dropping down to League One this term. Bloomfield added: “He's a great player, a top player. He’s had a real good career, but a lot of it has been taken away from him through injuries, so we hope if we can keep him fit then there’s a real good player in there.
"Clicker’s (Jordan Clark) been fantastic, Lamine’s (Fanne) getting himself back to fitness, Marv (Marvelous Nakamba) has done well. Walshy (Liam Walsh) hasn’t got enough football for us yet, but he’s someone who I think is a real good footballer and we need to get him more minutes on the pitch. As if we want to play the way we want to play then someone like him is important as well, so it will be good competition.”