Luton boss insists midfielder remains a 'very important' player for the Hatters despite his spell on the bench

Town boss Rob Edwards declared that midfielder Allan Campbell remains a ‘very important’ player for the Hatters after revealing he has had a number of discussions regarding a lack of game time for the Scottish international recently.

The 24-year-old finds himself in the unusual position of being out of the side at the moment, after becoming accustomed to a spot as a first team regular for both Luton and previous club Motherwell since breaking into the Steelmen team during the 2017-18 campaign.

It has seen him rack up 236 club games in his seven years as a pro, while a stellar maiden season at Kenilworth Road last term, led to the Glaswegian winning four awards at the club’s end of year presentation evening, also going on to make his debut for the Scotland senior side during the summer.

Campbell began this term in the first team once more under Nathan Jones, remaining there when Edwards took over in November, going on to begin the first 26 second tier matches, before finding himself named among the substitutes for the 2-0 win at Wigan in January.

He has stayed there for recent matches too, starting just once in eight league games, that against Stoke City, as Town have gone with Marvelous Nakamba, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu and Jordan Clark as their midfield three, only coming on in two of the last five fixtures, for under an hours’ worth of football.

When asked if he had spoken to him about his time out of the first team, Edwards said: “I try and get round everyone, I speak to everyone, it’s part of my job.

“I speak to as many people I can on a daily basis, I'll always get round and say hello to everyone every day.

“I’ll always have conversations with people about where I see them and what they need to do to try and get in the team if they are not and Al is someone I’ve had a number of chats with as well.

“Again he’s another person that’s very, very important to us, he has been and he will continue to be really important to us, no doubt about that.

“I know it will be frustrating for him as he has been used to playing more, but there’s probably no-one that gives more than him every single day, so he’s doing all he can.

“What he’s got at the moment is there's just a few lads that have been in outstanding form.

"Clicker (Jordan Clark) and Pelly have been absolutely terrific and no-one can really argue with that.

“So when you're out of it, all you can do is give everything, absolutely everything and fight to be pushing the lads that are starting at the moment, and when the opportunity comes, take it, grab it with both hands.

“That’s what football’s about, competition and that’s all you can do.”

Edwards also went on to reiterate that Campbell, along with the rest of the squad, are doing all they can in training to force their way into the side, adding: “He's brilliant, every day, but all the lads do, we wouldn't have it any other way, I wouldn't accept anything less.

“When you turn up and train, give everything, but that's what you can see when they play.

“You can see that on a Saturday or Tuesday or Wednesday, whenever we do play, this group train as they play.”