Luton's on-loan Gunners midfielder plays down injury concerns with Instagram post

Town’s key on-loan Arsenal midfielder Sambi Lokonga has allayed any fears that he will be out for a significant period of time after going off in Wednesday night’s 4-1 defeat to league leaders Liverpool.

The 24-year-old had been in sparkling form during the opening 45 minutes at Anfield, as up against the likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, he was a big reason as to why the Hatters swapped end leading 1-0 thanks to Chiedozie Ogbene’s third goal of the season, producing a terrific display, none more so than when facing his own goal and surrounded by two Reds players, he was not only able to shrug them off and hold on to the ball, but also find a team-mate as well.

However, having to leave the field holding his thigh when the whistle went for the interval, replaced by Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, it allowed Liverpool take full advantage in his absence, as they produced an unstoppable second half display to score four times and extend their gap at the top of the table to four points over Manchester City. With Lokonga out for almost three months earlier in the season due to another issue with his hamstring, there were worries that the Belgian international, who has become such a significant cog in the Hatters’ engine room with Ross Barkley in recent weeks, might be out for a while, which would have been a hammer blow to Luton’s chances of playing up this term.

However that appears not to be the case, as writing on Instagram, Lokonga said: “Thank you to everyone for your concerns and messages, I appreciate them! I wanted to tell you all the good news from my scan, that it’s only a minor issue and I will be back out on the pitch very soon! Let’s keep going! #onamission.”

It was clear that Edwards had been one of those concerned about the state of his injury, as in his post match press conference, he said: “I’m not sure if it’s the same, he’s just feeling it, lower hamstring, so in the end it was the right thing to do to take him out. He wasn’t comfortable to carry on, so I really hope he’s okay, and we’ll have to see. Sambi has been brilliant, we’re asking our lads to do a lot of work and run hard at the moment, and all the time. The intensity in our running is high and you’re always at risk then to muscle strains. I know there’s been a lot this year, it’s just hard to keep everyone out on the pitch all the time.”