On-loan Town midfielder glad to get his chance after 'frustrating' injury setback

​Luton’s on-loan midfielder Dan Gore was happy to get another chance to push himself into first team contention when starting in the FA Cup against Forest Green Rovers on Saturday after what he termed a ‘frustrating’ setback due to injury.

The 22-year-old joined on a season-long deal from Premier League Manchester United on transfer deadline day, making an instant debut in the 2-0 victory over Stockport County. Although he didn't feature against Leyton Orient, Gore then began the next three matches against Stevenage, Bradford and Ipswich Town U21s, but having missed a fortnight due to a minor injury, wasn’t in the starting line-up for any of the following eight games after returning to the squad and coming on for the final stages of the 3-1 victory over Doncaster Rovers.

Gore had further cameos against Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town, before earning his first start in just under two months when getting the nod at the weekend, and playing 65 minutes as Town defeated their National League opponents 2-0. Speaking after the game, the youngster said: “I’m buzzing, it’s good to get more minutes under my belt.

"Since I’ve come back from injury, I’ve not really been in the side, getting 35 minutes here and 20 minutes there, so happy to get 65 minutes. It (the injury) was very frustrating, but these things happen in football don't they. I’ve just got to stay positive, do my best and hopefully more chances will come.”

Gore was heavily involved in Luton booking their place in the next round too, as early on, his outside of the boot pass sent Emilio Lawrence away, the winger finishing well after an incisive one-two with Jordan Clark. He was also the architect of Town’s second, winning the ball back high up and finding Clark to slot in his third goal of the week, as discussing his efforts and the victory, coming before the Hatters have this weekend off due to an international break, Gore continued: “I’ve just seen it (pass to Lawrence), thought I’d try and it worked.

"When you score that early you think, right, maybe we’ll grab a few more, but they made it difficult for us and it was a good game. We all know he’s (Clark) a top player with what he can do. He’s a top player in our team and when he’s contributing with all these goals, it helps us a lot. It was a good result, a hard-fought win. We earned the win in the end, as they were a good team. I thought they played well, they had some good players and got into the final third, but we dug deep, defended well, stuck together and took our chances when they came.

"That’s the sign of a good team, we got the result that we wanted and are through to the next round. There’s been some hard fixtures, it’s been quite full-on. The boys have done really well over the last few weeks. It’s been a difficult period with some difficult games, but we’ve come out the other side of it with a good few points, so we’re in a good position, a nice little reset now ready to come back and kick on again.”

On the loanee’s return to the side, following a campaign in which he made 41 appearances when on loan at Rotherham United, named the Millers’ Player of the Season, boss Jack Wilshere added: “He’s done really well Dan, and it was a shame he picked up a slight injury which was a strange one.

"He just slipped in training and then he was out for two weeks. It kind of killed his rhythm a little bit. He came on the pitch against Colchester and he was one of the real positives from that game as he was slowly, slowly building, so we have to get him back to that place. I thought he was good, he’s aggressive, he’s tenacious in midfield. He uses the ball well, he can drive the game forward and someone we’re going to need.”