Hatters keeper Shea is loving being back on the bench after expecting season to be a 'write-off'

​Town keeper James Shea is loving every single second of being back amongst the Hatters’ first team squad after thinking this season was going to be written off due to injury.

​It was back in April 2022 when the former Arsenal youngster was between the posts for the 1-0 victory at Cardiff City, but had to hobble off in the first half when colliding with defender Tom Lockyer and suffering a serious knee injury.

After not expecting to feature at all this term, with recent addition Jack Walton suffering a groin problem, plus Matt Macey and Harry Isted departing on loan to Portsmouth and Barnsley respectively, Shea was a surprise inclusion on the bench for the 1-0 victory over Stoke City last month.

He has stayed there ever since too, named among the substitutes for the last 11 games, and speaking to the Luton News about his return ahead of schedule, he said: “It’s absolutely unbelievable.

“If I’m honest, I thought this season was going to be a write-off.

“I thought I might get the odd 23s game in, not in my wildest dreams did I think I would be back involved in the squad.

“It’s happened so quickly, I wouldn’t change it either as I’ve just had to be flung back in, it’s the best way to do it, but I’m absolutely loving it.

“I remember the first game back involved, Jack went down and hurt his groin a day before a game and I thought, ‘I might be on the bench here, I've only done four days full training,’ it was unbelievable!

“We were aiming for the end of February to get back fully fit and then it all happened a bit quicker than we thought it would happen, as Harry and Matty went out on loan, then Jack came in but Jack got injured.

"It worked out brilliantly for me in the end and if I had to come on, I felt I would have been absolutely fine.

"I’d like to think that, I’m 31 years of age, I have got that bit of experience, I know how to get through a game and everything like that, and I’m absolutely loving it.

Just being around the first team has been a real boost for Shea as well, especially having had to spend so long in the treatment room, as he continued: “Being involved on match day is the best.

"Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be playing right now, as anyone would, but the next best thing is to be involved and I am absolutely loving it.

"I love the match day, I love getting up and going to the game, I love being around the lads, having a laugh, that was the biggest thing I missed, the match-day.”

Although the injury had kept Shea out for the best part of a year, rather than moping at home about his predicament, with a young family, he made sure to make the most of his time away from the game.

The keeper said: “It was my first proper, proper injury, long-term.

"At first it was really tough, I didn’t really know how to handle it, I didn't realise how much hard work it was going to take.

"The first few two weeks back at the training ground after the operation was really tough as I had to get my knee straight, that was quite difficult, that was really, really tough.

"Then I’m not going to lie to you, after that, it was not enjoyable, but nice to have a break from everything if I’m honest.

"You hear some stories, I’m missing it, don’t get me wrong, I missed the football and everything, but I’ve got kids at home, I’ve got other things to keep my mind occupied, so that kept me really level-headed.

"It was great to see the boys doing well, but I’m not going to lie and say I was in depression, I missed every single day as I didn’t and that’s the god's honest truth.

"I enjoyed having the break from it all, working on different aspects of my game, of my body, to get myself right and to be fair, when the club gave me the new contract, it just gave me that relief where I can just concentrate, get myself right and I don’t have to worry about anything else.

“I’ve got a young family, it keeps your mind occupied, keeps you busy and it was tough for the missus at first as I couldn’t literally do anything, I just sat there.

"But you get home from training and you’d always be doing something, you’d be playing with the kids, doing their homework, just having something to do, rather than going home and staring at four walls and that’s the worst thing I think you can do.”

The renewal of his contract despite being out for so long was also a huge boost for Shea, who has been with the club since the summer of 2017, playing 106 games and winning two promotions in that time.

He knew at other teams that might not have been the case due to his unlikely prospects of playing again this term, adding: “I can't say a bad word about the club.

"I remember coming off at Cardiff, thinking, I’m bang in trouble here as I knew I’d done something serious.

"I was thinking, I'm out of contract in a few months, what’s going to happen?

"To be fair, the club had an option on me, so they could have just taken the option, worst case scenario.

"But on the coach on the way back from Cardiff, I had a message from my agent saying, he’s had Gary Sweet (Town chief executive) on the phone already saying, ‘listen, tell him not to worry, we’ll sort his new deal out.’

"It all happened so quickly, in about three days, everything was done and dusted and that was a massive relief, a real big relief.

"As there are some clubs out there that would just fob you aside, saying ‘he’s out for the next nine months, what’s the point of giving him something?’”