Krauß is happy to get off his couch and experience Boxing Day football for the first time with Luton

Luton’s on-loan midfielder Tom Krauß can’t wait to swap his sofa for the football pitch on Boxing Day when he gets his first taste of the hectic schedule that is English football over the Christmas period.

The 23-year-old, who has been borrowed from Bundesliga side Mainz for the campaign, has never experienced playing at the time of the season before as the German leagues are now on a two week winter break which saw them play their last games the weekend, as they don’t return once more until January 10. However, in that period, Krauß and the Hatters will play five matches, away to Bristol City on Boxing Day, before travelling to Swansea City, hosting Norwich City and then visiting QPR, all ahead of an FA Cup third round clash at Nottingham Forest.

Although it will take some getting used to at first for Krauß, he is fully up for the extra game time, saying: “Normally (on Boxing Day) I watch Premier League or Championship when I was in Germany, so I think it’s the same. Last season I was on the sofa and watched the games and now I play this game. It’s difficult because in Germany you have a Christmas break for two weeks and now I play on Christmas.

"My family is not here, only my girlfriend, it’s not the easiest time but I like to play games, I like to play every third day, so I like it. I don’t like Christmas breaks, I would say it’s better that I play on the Boxing Day. When I heard from the offer (from Luton), I know that I play at Christmas, it was not a decision, I like that.”

Asked if his fellow Germans thought England were mad for still having their domestic football running at such a time of the season, he continued: “I think in Germany you say yes, because you’re with your family, you celebrate Christmas and I think this year I can’t celebrate Christmas so much as I’m alone with my girlfriend and my two dogs, my family is in Germany.

"In Germany they say it’s good we have a Christmas break as you can recover a little bit, here you play every third day, but that’s why I'm here. I want to be on the pitch and not on my couch in Germany and for me it’s a good one but other Germans say it’s good that we have a good Christmas break.”

It’s not just at Christmas time that Krauß is having to get used to a greater volume of matches, but all through the campaign as the Bundesliga clubs have hunkered down for the winter with the top flight teams have played 15 matches. Luton however how managed 22 second tier fixtures, with the former Leipzig midfielder, who was injured when moving to Kenilworth Road, missing the first five, having since racked up 17 outings himself.

On how he has found it, he said: “It’s crazy. The first five weeks I was injured, but now I have 17 appearances. I said to my agent before I had the offer, I want to play a lot of games and now I have. I like that I have 17 games and to move forward, to have a lot of games in the next weeks, I like that. I want to be on the pitch, that’s the important thing for me.

"When I had my injury, it was a tough five weeks for me. I was here, I was not in my country, I was alone, it was a tough time but now I play every third day, so I like that, I’m happy to be on the pitch with the staff with the team.”

With Krauß clearly an all action type of player, who is already becoming something of a favourite with supporters, sitting joint top of the tackles per game list in the Championship with Derby’s Ebou Adams, he took some time to get used to the nature of Championship football, often coming off in the closing stages of games as he got used to the extra intensity he was facing.

It was something he initiated though, desperate to avoid any further spells out of the game at his new surroundings, adding: “The important thing was to not get injured, because I had this five weeks, it was my first injury in my career. Then I said to my gaffer after 85 minutes or something, I have a bit of cramp, or I was tired, get me off please because I don’t get injured.

"Now I’m fit and it’s the important thing. With my game style, the first week was a little bit tough. After the game it was a little bit of a problem with my hamstrings after the second game we had on Wednesday and then straight after, 72 hours, the next game. It was a little bit tough for my game style, and I was tired, but it’s getting better and better.

"I feel really good in the training, in the games. It’s a little bit different the games in the Championship compared with the game style in Germany. Here you run from left to right, left to right, left to right, in Germany you have more control, but that’s why I’m here. It’s a perfect style of football for me, but I feel really good.”