Luton boss knew there was always a 'risk' Mengi would suffer serious knee injury after refusing operation

Hatters boss Rob Edwards knew there was always a risk that Teden Mengi would suffer a serious knee injury after the defender opted against having surgery to repair the problem in the summer.

The 22-year-old missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Swansea City at Kenilworth Road, as his manager revealed afterwards that the England U21 international would be out for months after suffering what has now been confirmed as a tear in his meniscus during a training drill at the Brache. Once the news was made public, Mengi himself then posted on social media, revealing had been advised to have an operation to cure the issue back in May, but opted against doing so.

Speaking today, Edwards admitted he had wanted the defender to go under the knife once the potential severity had been diagnosed, saying: “After Fulham (in the Premier League), when he came off, the medical advice was to have surgery, the consultant thought that was the right thing, what was going to be needed. Unfortunately last week there was an injury in training where there’s no alternative but to have the surgery.

“It’s hard, you can put him in a really difficult position there because I can’t force someone to do that. The medical advice was to, but that’s the situation. I think he felt good, didn’t feel like it was warranted, felt he is a strong lad, a young lad, some players don’t want to have surgery, they don’t feel comfortable having that.

"He felt he could, along with the staff, work with them, rehab, strengthen all the areas around it and come through. He’s got through a long period of time doing that, but we always knew it was a risk, that’s why the recommendation was for surgery. The consultant said that, our medics said that as well, that was the risk. There was always that risk, we all knew that, Teden knew it as well. Unfortunately it’s happened, so he’s had to have that surgery.”

Asked if he wished that Mengi hadn’t gone public with his Instagram post, Edwards continued: “It’s the world that we’re in now. Players want to be able to communicate with supporters and get their message across and try to show that they’re being positive in a difficult moment. We always try to keep things a little bit more in-house, but this communication, there’s no issue with it. It’s what’s happened, it’s the truth, so it’s the situation.”

With Mengi now starting his lengthy period of recuperation back to being able to kick a ball again, on how he has been since the operation, Edwards added; “We saw him for the first time this morning, he’s got his brace on and he seems positive, in a positive frame of mind. I had a quick chat with him and now it’s going to be a long road to recovery which is frustrating for everybody, but that’s the situation.”