Luton boss warns against expecting too much from the returning Nakamba

Luton boss Rob Edwards has warned against expecting too much from midfielder Marvelous Nakamba after he made his first start in over eight months when playing against QPR in the Carabao Cup last night.

The 30-year-old had featured 13 times in the top flight for Town last term before suffering a serious knee injury during training which meant he didn’t play again for the Hatters after the 2-1 home defeat to Manchester City on December 10. After finally getting in a position where he could feature again, Edwards confirming he could be involved against the R’s, it was a huge boost for the 1,000 travelling fans to see him named in the starting line-up at Loftus Road.

Despite such a lengthy absence, Nakamba looked incredibly classy from the word go, demonstrating just what the Hatters have been missing, breaking up play as he did so often when starring in the Championship as Town won promotion to the Premier League in the 2022-23 campaign, also displaying some real class on the ball to pick out his team-mates, with a success rate of 93.3% from the 30 passes he attempted.

Understandably, the Zimbabwean international didn’t reappear for the second period, replaced at the break in a pre-planned switch, as Luton didn’t look quite so dominating in the centre of the park when was off the pitch. Despite his stand-out display, Edwards called for caution over expecting too much straight away from the former Aston Villa midfielder, as asked about Nakamba’s impact, he said: “There’s bits there where he needs work, he’s still not fit yet, that’s understandable, he’s been out for so long.

"Some of the presses he was just off and I don’t think people should expect too much too soon. We’ll see how his knee reacts now to this, so don’t have people thinking that’s it, he’s in for Friday now, that will be too soon. We’ve got to manage him in the right way, but it was nice to have him out there of course.”

Also joining Nakamba in the starting line-up was centre half Reece Burke, who got through a good 45 minutes having not played since the 3-1 defeat at his former side West Ham United on May 11. He was withdrawn at the interval for Mads Andersen, the Danish defender getting his first run-out since the Boxing Day win at Sheffield United due to persistent calf problems, making just his 11th appearance for the club since joining from Barnsley.

With Luton finally starting to get some players back to bolster their squad for the season ahead, Edwards added: “I think they’re different situations. Burkey and Mads, we were able to manage them slightly differently to Marv, but real positives to have those guys back out on the pitch definitely.”