Luton chief explains why he kept fit-again midfielder on the bench

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere admitted it was a ‘big step’ for midfielder Shandon Baptiste to make his return to the first team squad at the weekend, when he was named on the bench for the FA Cup first round tie against Forest Green Rovers.

The 28-year-old’s last action had been almost 15 months ago, when he came on for the 1-0 home defeat at Cardiff City, before then suffering a serious ACL injury in training that has kept him out ever since. Baptiste finally got his first run-out for the U21s when he had the opening 45 minutes of the New Wave Championship contest against MK Dons last week, along with Benny Benagr and Jayden Luker, as Town triumphed 4-2.

Although he was raring to get on the pitch against their National League outfit, Wilshere opted against bringing on the ex-Brentford and Oxford United player, as he will now get another week of training, also playing in this afternoon’s U21s clash against Southend United, before looking to feature in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy contest against Peterborough United next Tuesday evening. Asked why he didn't come on at the weekend, Wilshere said: “He’s not quite ready.

"We’ve had conversations about that all week with the medical team and I say he’s not ready, he could have played five or 10 minutes at the end, of course he could, because he’s trained for a while now, but he’s one that we have to get right, as he’s been out for a long time. That’s also a big step for him, just being on the bench, being back. I know how that feels when you’ve been out for so long and he’ll get a lot of confidence from that.”

Joining Baptiste on the bench was youth team striker Dawid Gawel, who opened his senior account when netting in the 6-0 Trophy win over Ipswich Town U21s back in September. He also didn’t make it on to the field, with Nahki Wells preferred in the closing stages, Town’s top scorer replacing Emilio Lawrence for the final five minutes, as Wilshere added: “Dawid keeps going and that’s another part of his development.

"Sometimes he trains with us, sometimes he trains with the 21s, he’s got a big Youth Cup game on Tuesday here (against Gillingham), so we were conscious of that, but we wanted to get him around it. He’s been training well, he’s been doing well with the youth team and it’s an important message that, as I’ve been an U18s coach (at Arsenal) and fortunate at a club that gave a pathway to players as well, and also joining a club that has a history of that. We want to keep that going, so to get them around it, will only help them.”