Meade ready to fight for his place at Town

New Town loan signing Jernade Meade is expecting to fight for his place after joining from Swansea City on Tuesday, writes Mike Simmonds.
Jernade Meade, John Still and Pelly Ruddock MpanzuJernade Meade, John Still and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu
Jernade Meade, John Still and Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu

The 21-year-old, who was born in Luton, penned a deal at Kenilworth Road until the end of the season, with Hammers midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu joining permanently on the same day.

Hatters travel to Dartford weather permitting this weekend and Meade said: “I’m not looking to start because I haven’t even trained yet.

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“So I just need to get used to it, be in the squad, be amongst it and take in the experience.”

On whether the duo would both feature at Princes Park, boss John Still said: “Pelly’s got a little bit of a knock which may mean we don’t involve him on Saturday.

“We will have a look at his (Meade’s) fitness on Saturday, but we have no need to rush people with that.”

Playing competitive football was a real draw for Meade too, as he hasn’t featured for the Swans this term after his move from the Emirates.

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He continued: “Swansea’s 21s is nothing compared to any first team football where you’re fighting for three points. They’re fighting for promotion too, so it gives you that buzz.”

Town have already sold out their allocation of 1,500 tickets at Dartford and Meade can’t wait to strut his stuff in front of the Hatters faithful.

When told of the expected numbers, he said: “What a following, 1,500 already? That’s great. Luton get 7, 8,000 fans a week at home too.

“That’s only going to make you want to play, as for the 21s, there’s no atmosphere whatsoever.”

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Meade has a rough idea of what he’s walking into as well, having viewed some of Town’s recent games via the internet.

He said: “I’ve watched a few videos on Youtube and have seen they try to play football.

“It’s not route one. Understandably, some pitches might prohibit that, so they might have to hit it long sometimes, but they do try and play football as well.”

Dartford have finally hit some kind of form with four points from their last two games as on-loan midfielder Cameron McGeehan added: “I think there’s a few lads from Luton on loan there (Alex Wall and Jim Stevenson), so they won’t be able to play against us and they might be a little bit weaker.

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“We know we’ve just got to try and win our games though and that’s what we’ll do.”

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