Manchester United loanee missing for Luton but defender will play through pain barrier

Luton defender George Johnston is expected to keep his ever-present record intact by playing through the pain barrier of a broken nose at MK Dons tomorrow.

The 28-year-old has started every single League One game for the Hatters since joining on a free transfer following his departure from play-off winners Bolton Wanderers in the summer. He hadn’t missed a single minute either until just before the hour mark of Town’s 4-1 thumping of Wycombe Wanderers when he went to win a header in the Chairboys’ penalty area.

Unfortunately, a clash of heads saw Johnston left on the turf, instantly calling for treatment due to a badly bloodied nose. When it became clear he couldn’t continue, it saw Town have to reshuffle their back-line for the second time, Izzy Jones on and moving to right back, Hakeem Odoffin taking Johnston’s place alongside Mads Andersen in the centre.

However, the former Trotters captain, who played 50 times last term, is clearly made of stern stuff, as Wilshere said: “He broke his nose, which if you look at him, you probably realised it’s not the first time. That’s what I love about George, he’s so committed. He wanted to carry on, but they couldn’t stop the bleeding. We’re still waiting for the mask to come and there was that conversation around, 'do you want to train or do you want to protect it a little bit?' He was like ‘no, I want to train,’ so he’s trained all week. He’ll probably be wearing some sort of mask tomorrow, but he’s fine.”

There were further positives for Wilshere as missing the game at Adams Park were striker Callum Marshall due to a personal issue, plus defender Harrison Ashby, suspended following his one-game ban after being sent off in stoppage time against Bradford City. With the pair now available, it creates a real dilemma for the boss, which is just what he is after.

He continued: “Ashby’s back, he was obviously suspended. Marshall came back into training on Sunday, so he’s had a good week of training and it’s good to have him back. The selection issues for the team, but also for the squad, I like it because it then creates something in training.

"Players can’t just turn up to training, go through the motions and think it’s going to happen, you’re going to be in the squad, that’s not the way. I want players to compete every day, practice every single day. There’s no button to press on a Saturday where you turn it on. You have to do it all week and when you’re fighting to get into a squad, that creates that even more.”

One player who won’t be in contention for the contest tomorrow is on-loan Manchester United youngster Dan Gore, who had been a late withdrawal from the match-day squad against the Chairboys last weekend. He joins Shayden Morris, Benny Benagr, Jayden Luker and Gideon Kodua in being sidelined, although not for long, as Wilshere added: “There’s some good news with Dan.

"This game will probably come a little bit too soon for him. We were doing a small-sided game and he slipped and hurt his groin which is frustrating for us and for him. The good news is that he’s not too far away. Benny is doing part of training, the unopposed stuff with us at the start, Jayden’s plan is to do that as well at some point over the next week or so. Shayden is probably a little bit further behind than both of them and then Gids is a fresh one. I don’t want to give dates, but hopefully Benny and Jayden, early November or mid-November.”