Morris expected to return for Watford grudge match but Bloomfield unsure over Luton quartet

Luton skipper Carlton Morris is expected to return to lead the line for the Hatters when they head to sworn enemies Watford in their hotly-anticipated Championship clash on Sunday.

The forward, who like the rest of his team-mates, has struggled for goals of late, with just seven from his 31 outings so far this term, hasn’t been on target since the 2-1 defeat at Swansea City some nine games ago. One of the times he has found the net though was in the thumping 3-0 win over the Hornets at Kenilworth Road back in October a rare glimmer of light in what has been a downright miserable season for the Bedfordshire outfit to date.

Illness meant Morris was a late absentee from Wednesday night’s frustrating 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle, new signing Lasse Nordas partnering Elijah Adebayo upfront, but the captain should be back for the trip to Vicarage Road, as boss Matt Bloomfield said: “Carlton's back, back on the grass today, he's back in training which we're really pleased about.

"He’s a big character for us, a big leader, a big player for this football club, has been for for a few years now. It was disappointing to lose him so close to kick off as we did on Wednesday. It couldn’t have been helped, he was sick, and I thought Lasse did fantastically considering the limited football he has had recently, but having Carlton back is a big positive for us.”

Midfielder Jordan Clark is also in with a chance of being selected having missed Luton’s last two games against Sheffield United and the Pilgrims, with Bloomfield continuing: “Clicker's back out, not on the grass, but he's been doing some moving patterns around this morning, so we'll wait and see whether he can get ready for Sunday. I genuinely don’t know at this point whether he will or won’t. He’s one of the boys that has been involved in the fixture before and has the experience and know-how. It would be great to have him around and about, but if he can’t then unfortunately he won’t be.”

There are also doubts over centre half Mark McGuinness and midfielder Shandon Baptiste after both were in the wars during midweek. McGuinness, who has started all 31 league games since his arrival from Cardiff City in August, was withdrawn late on with a knee problem, while Baptiste needed two bouts of treatment after injuring his ankle when unleashing a late volley, as Bloomfield said: “With Mark we’re going to need to give him as long as we can.

"He got a knock so we’ll have to see how he recovers in the next couple of days. He’s been great since we’ve been in the building, I know he’s done that all season. I think he’s adapted to the right side of the (back) three really, really well, carries the aerial threat, another leader amongst the group, so we’ll have to wait and see how he is.

"Shandon finished the game, but again, another one carrying a knock and I genuinely don’t know at this point if he’ll make Sunday or not. He didn’t train this morning, there was a small group training and some recovering, so we’ll wait and see. It’s unfortunate that he’s picked up a little knock like that, but again he seems quite positive this morning. He’s a positive boy, he’s dealt with injuries before so he knows his body quite well, but again we’re going to have to wait and see tomorrow. If he can train then he can be involved, if he can’t then unfortunately he won’t. But we’ll give him another 24 hours and see where is.”

There was also an update on the trio of Daiki Hashioka, who hasn’t featured since the 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday, plus Reece Burke and Tahith Chong, as Bloomfield stated: “Hashi’s got a niggle on his knee so he’s missed out the last couple of games. He’s just got a little tweak, he was back out on the grass this morning but he’s been unfortunate to miss the last couple of games.

"Burkey is very, very close. He’s been back out on the grass again and he’s really not far away. I’ve said this for a couple of weeks. He’s not far, but we have to make sure he’s right when he comes back because he will be a big player for us for the rest of the season. Chongy’s a little bit behind Burkey, so he won’t make Sunday, but they’re both big players and we’re looking forward to having them back.”

With it being the third game in a three game week, then whoever is available, Bloomfield is likely to make the odd alteration from midweek, adding: I think that on the evidence of what I’ve done in the last couple of years in my managerial career during three games weeks, I’ve looked to make changes if at all possible and it’s about getting the balance.

"I don’t want to make changes for the sake of it, but at the same time, freshness and energy is really, really important, but so also is continuity and performances. We’ve had two good performances and it’s about trying to keep that continuity and not changing too many, but I think the probability will be that we make a couple as one or two maybe enforced and if they’re not then we might try and keep it fresh as well.

“We have got a couple of knocks, we’re carrying a couple of knocks and we’ll have to give those boys as long as we can to see if they’re going to be fit. Off the back of a three game week you’re usually going into that third game, it’s quite often you’re carrying one or two. We had the Sunderland game previous to that as well, so we’ll have to wait and see if those boys pull through, if not we’ll have to make changes.”