Hatters chief reveals defender was dropped at Lincoln after being late to a team meeting
January signing had to make do with a place on the bench
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield revealed that defender Christ Makosso was dropped from the Hatters XI for their trip to Lincoln City on Saturday after being late to a team meeting.
The 21-year-old had started five out of Luton’s eight League One encounters this term, missing three games due to suspension having been found guilty of a violent conduct charge following the 2-0 victory at Peterborough United last month. However the Congolese centre half, who has impressed since joining Town from Belgian side RWD Molenbeek in January, wasn’t named on the teamsheet for the trip to the LNER Stadium, with Teden Mengi in for his first start of the campaign having recovered from a knee injury picked up during pre-season.
Makosso then replaced the former Manchester United centre half with 65 minutes gone and his side trailing 1-0, but with Town then drawing level through Jordan Clark’s clever finish, it was the defender’s misjudgement that saw the Imps retake the lead with five minutes remaining, heading against Justin Obikwu rather than away, as the Trinidad & Tobago international raced clear to slam past Josh Keeley and make it 2-1.
Ben House added a third in the 90th minute, as asked afterwards why he had gone with Mengi over Makosso, Bloomfield said: “Ted’s had injuries since we’ve been here. We got him for a few games at the end of last season but unfortunately he’s been injured in pre-season. The plan wasn’t to start him today, he played 45 minutes behind closed doors on Tuesday, but unfortunately for us Christ was late to a team meeting yesterday (Friday) so we had to make a late change.
"We have to make sure that we have rules that we abide by and basic principles. Our culture is so important and we need to make sure that Christ has the information so he can go and do that. He’s a good kid, but he’s young, he’s learning. He’s in foreign country so we have to maybe look after him better and make sure he has the information clearer if that’s what’s necessary, but it was good for Ted to get 60 minutes on the pitch.”