Rea hopes to nail down one position for Luton

The 23-year-old made 50 appearances as Luton won promotion to League One last term, with those coming in either central defence or the holding midfield role.

Rea didn’t have a preference where he actually ends up, but would like the opportunity to make one of them his own, saying: “I don’t mind playing either one, I like doing it, but I feel if I have a run in whichever position it is, I can improve in that position.

“All I want is to have a run in either position, it doesn’t really matter which, but as long as I’m on the pitch, I’m happy.

“Saying that, if I’m not playing, then my attitude won’t change, it will just be about that I want to get back in the team.

“I’ll train well and go from there really, but if I could get a run in the team in whichever position, then I’m happy.”

Rea made huge strides as a defensive midfielder last season, leading Alan McCormack to label him the ‘caretaker’ of Town’s team, due to the fact that he always swept things up in front of the back four.

The former Brighton youngster continued: “It’s always nice to have a bit of praise.

“But I’ll just keep plodding along and keep doing what I’m doing and then hopefully that will help the team and then more praise to come.

“It’s nice to hear, especially from the other players that they appreciate you in the team as well.”

When Rea has been centre half, he has often partnered Alan Sheehan and on the combination, he added: “I think every time we play together, I feel like we gel well, because we gel off the pitch, so that only helps on the pitch.

“We’re not the biggest, he’s more dominant than me really, but we like to play and that can only help the team when you’ve got two centre halves that like to play.”