Key Luton duo a doubt for Hull trip after picking up knocks on international duty

Hatters duo Amari’i Bell and Izzy Jones are a doubt for Luton’s crucial Championship trip to relegation rivals Hull City tomorrow after the pair both returned from international duty with knocks this week.

Defender Bell, who featured in Jamaica’s Concacaf Gold Cup qualifying first leg clash 1-1 draw with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, missed the second leg 3-0 victory due to a knee problem, which saw him return to Bedfordshire on Tuesday. Jones meanwhile played in both of Guyana’s Gold Cup qualifying matches with Guatemala, becoming the first ever Town player to score a hat-trick on international duty in their 3-2 first leg win.

He then had the full 90 in the second leg 2-0 defeat which meant the Golden Jaguars were knocked out 4-3 on aggregate, as discussing the pair this afternoon, Bloomfield said: “Amari’i, we’ve got a doubt over him. He’s got a knock as I said earlier in the week and Izzy Jones has come back with a knock as well so they’re both doubtful for tomorrow. We’re going to give them as long as we can, a lot of travelling involved for those two boys, but they've come back and we’ll make a late decision on them.

“Izzy only got back in the country yesterday so there’s not been much time. We gave him until the morning, got a good sleep in him and then we’re getting on the coach now, so we’ve just got to give him as long as we can. Usually you want to be as prepared as you possibly can and that’s really important, but in weeks such as this you have to be adaptable and that’s what we’re going to be.”

Although disappointed to possibly be without two key players for Town’s trip to a Tigers side who are six points above Luton with eight games to go, Bloomfield was happy for them to be gaining further international honours. He continued: “It’s a huge recognition for the football club for international players to go off and play the way those guys have. They’ve been a real good success over the break, but one part of that is that they come back and you have to hope for the best.

"Those two have got knocks, but like I said we’ll give it as long as we can and if they're fit then great, if they’re not then we’ve been training during the week and we’ll have replacements ready to go. They’ve been doing great since we’ve gone to a back three. You’ve seen a real good performance level from the pair of them.

"Amari’i has looked like vintage Amari’i stepping in from the left hand side. He defends one-on one particularly well and Izzy has just been getting better and better in my mind. So we really hope that they’ll both be fit and we’ll give them as long as we possibly can. It’s part of football, there’s no sitting around and sulking. We hope they’ll be fit. If they are then they’ll play, if they’re not not then we’ve been training really hard over the international window and we’ll have the boys ready to go.”

January transfer window signing Thelo Aasgaard was another player away this week, as he scored on his senior debut for Norway in their 5-0 World Cup qualifying win over Moldova, before remaining on the bench for the 4-2 success in Israel. He is fully available though, as Bloomfield said: “Thelo’s fine, he’s been back training. He’s got a spring in his step as we’d expect, he’s obviously had a really good 10 days away. He’s got quality, we’ve spoken about him a number of times. He’s back, he’s trained well this morning and ready to go.”

Although there are doubts over Bell and Jones, Bloomfield didn’t have any concerns over the rest of his squad, with no other absentees bar Jacob Brown, Marvelous Nakamba, Shandon Baptiste and Teden Mengi. He added: “I don’t think there’s been anyone else, we’re good to go. Teden’s started to join in a little bit with the group, he’s not ready to partake in the games yet, but he’s done a bit with the group, not full training but he’s done a little bit. Chongy (Tahith Chong) has been in full training during the week, Shandon and Marv are now back out on the grass with the sports science guys in the early stages of their rehab, so it’s lovely to see some familiar faces back out on the grass.”