Luton boss believes Town's record signing could be a future Hatters captain

​Luton centre half Mark McGuinness could be a future captain of the club according to new manager Matt Bloomfield.

​The 23-year-old is the Hatters’ record signing having joined from Cardiff City in the summer, a deal that could well rise to £10m in the future. Having taken some time to get to grips with his new surroundings, the former Arsenal youngster has begun to show why Town were so keen to bring him to Kenilworth Road with some dominant performances in Luton’s back-line.

Selected in a back four during Bloomfield’s first game in charge against Preston on Saturday, he was a class apart, as the visitors didn’t even manage a shot on target during the goalless draw. He then impressed once more during the 3-2 defeat at Oxford United in midweek, scoring his second for the club with a back post header, although the marking from Town’s defence left a lot to be desired for all three of the U’s goals.

Asked about the defender, who has made his senior Republic of Ireland debut since moving south, Bloomfield said: “I really like Mark, I think he’s a great guy first and foremost, he’s a lad of huge potential still. I think there’s a lot more to come from him. He’s obviously a big investment for the football club and he’s played a lot of games at this level already for a young man, but he’s going to be a leader and a captain of the future I would suggest for this football club. He's someone we’re really pleased to have and I thought he was excellent on Saturday.”

Both McGuinness and centre half partner Tom Holmes were noticeable in the amount of possession they had against the Lilywhites at the weekend, as both demonstrated some impressive long-range and short-range passing, something that carried on at the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday too. Bloomfield added: “It’s important both in and out of possession, the centre halves have a lot of responsibility for us. The way we want to play and we want to have options for them on the ball, we don’t just want to have one way of playing, we want to have options for them.

"Whatever our opponents present to us, we need to have ways of breaking them down and having a threat in the game. They probably had more of the ball than what they’ve been used to on Saturday, but they’re were some things we’ve discussed in the video room and out on the training ground, how we can get slightly cleaner in possession, but I thought the two guys, Holmesy and Mark were great."