Impact from the bench gives Luton chief 'food for thought' as he confirms Krauß could start at Argyle
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The impact of Luton’s second half substitutes during Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday has given Hatters boss Rob Edwards some real food for thought regarding his team selection at Plymouth Argyle tomorrow night.
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Hide AdWith Town trailing 1-0 to the Owls and starting down the barrel of a third straight home defeat this season, Edwards brought on Carlton Morris, Tom Krauß and Zack Nelson with an hour gone at Kenilworth Road. All three excelled during their time on the pitch as Morris netted from the spot with 77 minutes gone to draw his side level.
Edwards then introduced Victor Moses and Joe Taylor for the final stages, as the pair both played key roles in the winning goal, Morris on hand to tuck home from close range and complete the comeback. With Town now making the long trip to Home Park, asked if those brought on had pushed themselves into contention, the boss said: “I was really pleased with the impact, so it’s definitely food for thought and that's what I want. We want players performing really well giving us difficult decisions to make, so that was really, really pleasing that we had impact from the side.”
It was Krauß’s first taste of English football having been kept out with an ankle injury after joining on a season-long loan from Bundesliga side Mainz in August. On whether the former German U21 international is fit enough to start against Wayne Rooney’s side, Edwards continued: ”I think the fact that he was involved in the squad, he was fit to start anyway. So certainly now, six days on, I feel that, if we decided to. Is he fit to go and play 95, 96 minutes? I'm not sure, but we’ve got a number of players in that position now so we're still having to think about all those sorts of things.”
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Hide AdAlthough not wanting to rely on what his predecessor called 'game changers’, one thing that Edwards was thrilled to see though was the strength of his bench especially after Town’s injury crisis had been one of the main reasons that saw them drop out of the Premier League last term, often having to field two goalkeepers and four teenagers in the latter state of the campaign.
He said: “For so long, since the back end of February it had been difficult. We’re getting to that stage now where we’ve got some more difficult decisions which is good and I think as well, some players are really playing themselves into form, which is really positive as that’s what we want.
"It’s a strong group. If we’re leaving one or two people out you know there’s a big impact from the bench and we certainly had that at the weekend. In a way you hope that you don’t have an impact all the time, but you know you’re going to make changes at some stage and you want them to have a positive impact on the game.”
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Hide AdOne thing that will be on Edwards’ mind is those who are still working their way back to full fitness, including Marvelous Nakamba and Liam Walsh, the pair both starting the last two matches in the centre of midfield having had very little game time before then. With Town also hosting Oxford United on Tuesday night, he added: “Marv in particular because we've got three games in a week so that’s something to think about. But it's not just those two, there are a number of them we're having to manage at the moment, but that's fine, we've got a good group.”
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