Luton defender expected to miss League One run-in after hamstring surgery

​Luton defender Teden Mengi is expected to be out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his hamstring.

The 23-year-old was forced to limp off during the 2-1 Vertu Trophy quarter-final victory over Plymouth Argyle last week, as he pulled up when trying to prevent ex-Hatter Bim Pepple from reaching a loose ball just after the half hour mark. Having hobbled down the touch-line and then not included during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Port Vale, boss Jack Wilshere revealed this afternoon that the former Manchester United youngster had since gone under the knife.

Asked if that meant the ex-England U21 international, who has played 25 times for Town this term, making 80 appearances in total since arriving in August 2023, wouldn’t be able to feature again this term, Wilshere said: “Probably, I’m holding on to a little bit of hope, but it doesn’t look great for him. Teds unfortunately, he had to have surgery on his hamstring which is a blow for us because I think people can see that how much he’s played for me, how much I like him as a player, how much I love his personality.

"I can think of a few big moments in games, Stockport away, where he makes that tackle and he has that energy to celebrate it. I call it a love for defending, he’s really got that, which you need in this league so that’s a blow for us and for him because he was having a good season in my opinion. Since I’ve been in, he’s been really good for me. We’ll wait for him and if it’s this season great, if it’s next season, then I look forward to working with him again.”

With Mengi having both pace and aerial power, his absence for the remainder of the campaign will represent a blow for the Hatters’ back-line as they look to reach a Wembley final in the Vertu Trophy when hosting Northampton Town tomorrow evening, with slim hopes of a return trip for the play-offs as well. Wilshere added: “He’s a modern day defender, probably someone in the future if he develops right, develops a bit more, keeps the right mindset, he can play at a higher level. Hopefully that will be with us, but a lot of teams now like to be aggressive and go man for man. When you do that you leave a big space behind you, so you have to have a certain profile of defender and he’s definitely that.”