Luton boss relieved to welcome Al-Hamadi back for the Hatters

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere was glad to have forward Ali Al-Hamadi available as he made his comeback from almost two months out injured during the second half of Town’s 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night.

The on-loan Ipswich Town striker had made just two previous cameos since arriving at Kenilworth Road in the summer, hindered by a calf injury when he joined, as he came on against Forest Green Rovers and Stockport County, before suffering a quad injury when away on international break for Iraq. That frustratingly ruled him out of action for another few months, as having been back in training recently, Al-Hamadi was finally able to be named in the match-day squad at the Accu Stadium in midweek, starting on the bench.

Brought on with 15 minutes left and the Hatters desperate for a goal to draw level, having fallen behind against the 10-man Terriers to Ryan Ledson’s stunning strike from inside his own half, the forward wasn’t able to prove Luton’s saviour, although did show signs he could help a visiting front-line who have underperformed all season long.

Al-Hamadi was able to get in behind the hosts’ line on at least three occasions to balls over the top, something that just hasn’t been happening with enough regularity this season, as although it didn’t lead to anything tangible, the Hatters losing a third successive away game by a single goal, his performance does bode well for the remainder of the campaign.

If Al-Hamadi can now stay fit for the final 18 games, it would prove a huge boost to a misfiring Luton attack whose forwards have scored just three goals from open play this term, Wilshere clearly showing just what he thought of the options available to him by playing midfielder Jordan Clark in a makeshift number nine role on Tuesday, dropping Nahki Wells to the bench, with Jerry Yates and Jacob Brown nowhere to be seen.

On having the striker back once more, Wilshere said: “Ali has worked really, really hard to get back to this point, but we could only have him for 20 minutes which is tough at times. We have to respect it, the medical team have done a top job with him to get him back this quick so we need to build him up, build him up slowly. The team looks slightly different as you can see when he’s in it, so it’s good to have him back.”

With Al-Hamadi on the field it meant that Clark could drop back into his usual midfield role once more, a position he looks far more effective in, and the long-serving player was happy to see his team-mate available again, adding: “It’s always good to see him back, he offers a lot and gives you something different which is good. We’ve just got to look after him now and keep him fit. It’s good to see him get on the pitch, that will do him the world of good and hopefully he can score some goals for us from now until the end of the season.”