Mastering English is the aim for Luton's new German midfielder Krauß

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Former German U21 international nets a first Hatters goal on Tuesday night

​New Hatters signing Tom Krauß is determined to make sure he gets to grips with the English language during his stint at Kenilworth Road.

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​The 23-year-old moved to Luton on a season-long loan from Bundesliga side Mainz in August for a first spell away from his home country, although unfortunately saw his debut pushed back due to an ankle injury. Finally able to get on to the pitch for the 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday last month, the former German U21 international was asked how he had found life in his new surroundings, saying: “It was not easy as I need to learn more English to understand. The accent here in England is a little bit different, when my team-mates speak so fast it’s difficult, but I learn from day to day.

"The team’s really good, they know I don't know everything about every sentence in English, but they help me a lot. It’s a little bit difficult for me. When you speak with guys from Japan like Hashi (Daiki Hashioka), you understand everything, because he has the same level like me. But when you speak with Alf (Doughty) or someone it’s a little bit different, but I say to them, ‘say it a little bit slower.’ That’s why I’m here, to make a big step for my own, to learn more English, physically, to be stronger, I do everything for that."

Tom Krauß scores his first Hatters goal against Oxford on Tuesday night - pic: David Horn / PRiME Media ImagesTom Krauß scores his first Hatters goal against Oxford on Tuesday night - pic: David Horn / PRiME Media Images
Tom Krauß scores his first Hatters goal against Oxford on Tuesday night - pic: David Horn / PRiME Media Images

Despite the language barrier, which Krauß really doesn’t need to worry about too much given the ease in which he fielded questions during his post match interview after beating the Owls, playing in England is something that the midfielder has always wanted to do. He continued: “Four years ago when I watched games in England, I said to my dad, ‘I will play there,’ so that’s why I’m here. It’s also my first step outside of Germany, but the decision was for England and not against Germany, as it was a big, big dream to play in England.”

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The midfielder got his first 90 minutes since February during the 3-1 defeat at Plymouth Argyle on Friday night, before starting the 2-2 draw against Oxford in midweek, scoring a maiden goal for the Hatters when sliding home Jacob Brown’s cross. Krauß was in the wars somewhat when facing the U’s, injuring his wrist early on and then on the receiving end of a fierce challenge from ex-Luton defender Peter Kioso early in the second half.

It meant that his impressive shift was unfortunately ended before the hour mark, Town not looking anywhere near as good with Krauß off the field, as Edwards added: “There’s still more to come from Tom. He did 1,000 metres of high speed running on Friday and he’s still a bit jaded even from that. It was his first 90 minutes which wasn’t the plan, but because of the injury situation we had to.

"He probably couldn’t go as deep into this game and the last thing we need is him getting injured. At half time he said I’ve probably got five more minutes in me, obviously he went down and took a bit of a knock as well, but we’re happy with the impact that he had. We know there’s still more to come from him as he’s still getting up to speed.”

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