Injury-free Baptiste is determined to show Hatters fans the player he can be
Midfielder has struggled for game time once more this season
Luton midfielder Shandon Baptiste is desperate to finally show the Hatters fans just what he can produce on the football pitch after making his return from yet another injury recently.
The 27-year-old moved to Kenilworth Road on a free transfer in the summer, as he ended what was also a spell at Premier League outfit Brentford that was blighted by unavailability, playing just 78 times over his four-and-a-half year in West London, but only making 22 starts. He started off positively after arriving in Bedfordshire, beginning all of Luton’s first four Championship matches, but then in an frustratingly familiar tale for the Grenadian international, was restricted to just three more starts in the next eight months, and 17 outings in total, due to a variety of injuries.
However, having finally shaken them off, he was back on the field recently, coming off the bench against Bristol City on Easter Monday and then had another run-out against Coventry City on Saturday. It was an extremely valuable cameo too, as Baptiste bagged what turned out to be the winner in the 90th minute with his first goal since December 2023, sealing a hugely precious three points for the Hatters in their bid to stay up.
Although it now might be next term that the midfielder gets his chance to shine on a more regular basis, he is determined to do so for the Luton supporters, saying: "I feel like at the start of the season, like all players, you start playing some games and start getting into the right momentum, the right groove of things, but I think I was far from my best and what I can do. Hopefully I can in the near future show them, let them see me as a player as I don’t think they’ve seen a lot of what I can do.”
It’s not just Town’s supporters that he wants to start playing regularly for either, but also his family too, who have supported him through yet another spell in the treatment room, as he continued: "They just want to see me playing football and enjoying what I want to do as they know how hard it hits me. I’m quite positive anyway, so it never really takes too long to turn my mindset into it’s time to work. If you think you’re going to get injured then you’re going to get injured. I just try and keep that out of my mind and try to go out there and play my normal game. When something like that happens, you just think why me? Why can’t I just get five minutes or just a clear run of doing what you want to do?”
Absent when Bloomfield took over, Baptiste then had another two months out with a calf problem picked up during the 2-0 derby day loss to Watford back in February. He conceded it was a really difficult one to get through mentally, continuing “The injury I picked up was a tear to the muscle in my calf and my soleus in the Watford game. It was very unfortunate as it's such a big game for us as a club and I wanted to be out there for as long as I could to try and help turn it around and help the team trying to get back from that as I'm trying to do everything I can to come back safely and help the boys.
"This one has probably hit me the most, but I’m feeling good, I’m feeling strong, I’ve got good support from everyone at the club. All the little things help when you’re in the situation, wanting to be back, wanting to be playing, want to be out there helping. It’s been tough but I know I’m going to come back from this.”
He has come back through and having worked extremely hard with the medical team at the Brache to do so, then he was eager to thank them for giving him the chance to get on the pitch and impact Town’s battle to stay up in the manner he has done, adding: “When you’re injured you’ve got to work a little bit harder than the boys who are fit, but that’s life, you’ve got to be working. With it being what it was and how it came about, it’s just trying to make sure it’s right.
"The staff have made sure that all my strength markers in and around my calf, my hamstring, my quads are really good and where they should be. I think the staff and team here, especially physios and coaches, they really look outside the box and try to look at things differently. Everything’s not all about strength, there’s how you move and things like that, so they’ve not left any stone unturned in terms of trying to find the best solution for myself. They’ve been a really massive help in getting me back to this point and I’m feeling good.”