Luton chief won't be afraid to give Town's young guns a chance after Johnson's debut against Boro

Luton boss Rob Edwards has stated he won’t be afraid to give any of Town’s talented youngsters a chance on the big stage during his tenure in charge at Kenilworth Road.

The Hatters chief handed out his first debut to one of the club’s academy graduates on Monday night, with defender Joe Johnson replacing Alfie Doughty for the final seven minutes of the 2-1 win over Middlesbrough.

He became the first player that has come through the ranks to be on the field in a league game since James Justin was involved against Oxford United in May 2019, as although previous boss Nathan Jones awarded 15 youngsters their senior bow, they were often in Checkatrade Trophy or Carabao Cup matches.

Since Edwards took over in November, Luton have handed development deals to a number of their impressive young guns who helped Town reach the FA Youth Cup fifth round this term, with Jayden Luker, Zack Nelson, Jacob Pinnington, Axel Piesold and Ben Tompkins all putting pen to paper.

On Johnson’s first run-out and the chance of others getting an opportunity as well, Edward said: “We’re really pleased for him.

"It was good for the academy, good for belief for the staff and for his mates to see that there are opportunities and that none of us are afraid to bring people on in big games.

“I was a young player once and someone gave me an opportunity, we all need that as young players, however that comes.

“We can’t guarantee him another minute.

"We’ve got a minimum of four games, hopefully five, but what we can guarantee is that he’ll get opportunities to train.

"And he, not just him, but any other boys that are around it as well, has got to give everything, like they always do, like our boys always go.”

Although there wasn’t a huge amount riding on Monday’s match, both side’s automatic promotion hopes incredibly slim, and both having since ended, the fact Johnson was brought on at such a vital part of the game showed the faith that Edwards had in his ability to cope with the occasion.

Asked how he has been since his first run-out, the boss, speaking on Thursday, added: “He’s been great. We’ve had a couple of days off, so seeing him in today, he was just his normal self.

“He came in, has gone about his business and trained really well, as he always does every day.

“He’s still got a long way to go, Joe, you can see it physically, but what we see we really like and we think he’s got real potential.

“Okay, we can say that in terms of the league position, we’re not going to get promoted in second place, we know we’re in the play-offs, but it was a big game the other night.

“We trust him to go on and he really delivered.

"He did well and I’m really pleased for him.

“The hard work really starts now because he’s got to try to stick in and around it.”