Summer signing expected to be fit as Luton look to carry on superb form

Forward Callum Marshall is expected to be fit for Town’s League One opener at Reading this afternoon.

The 21-year-old summer signing from West Ham United has only had a few weeks to integrate with his new team-mates, moving to Kenilworth Road at the very end of last month, immediately getting a first run-out in the 1-0 defeat to Dutch Eredivisie side Go Ahead Eagles. Having played the opening 45 minutes, Marshall was then replaced at the break by Devante Cole due to a slight knock, and went on to miss last weekend’s comfortable 3-0 victory at League Two side Gillingham in the Carabao Cup.

It meant that the experienced Nahki Wells led the line in his absence, getting his season underway immediately with the opening goal on the afternoon, sidefooting in Jayden Luker’s precision pass, but asked about Marshall’s chances of featuring today and the challenge to be Town’s main man upfront, Wilshere said: “He trained towards the end of the week, so we’ll have to see how he is. He had a kick on his ankle which was frustrating for him, but he’s fine

“Competition for places is good and when we’re bringing players in, that’s one of the first things we say. Also sometimes as much as players they want that comfort, they want to know, yes I’m going to play, I think when you get here and you have that competition, you’re fighting against someone, it makes for healthy competition. It makes training competitive in my opinion to improve training, it needs to be like that, it needs to be intense, needs to be competitive, so they’re fighting for that place.”

Whoever gets the nod for the Hatters will be charged with helping the visitors continue the marvellous sequence of form they ended the previous campaign in, going oh so close to claiming the final play-off spot. A run of 12 unbeaten, including winning the Vertu Trophy at Wembley when beating Stockport County, with nine victories, unbeaten in six on the road, including four wins, ensured Town finished seventh, just one point outside the dotted line.

That, plus some excellent signings over the summer, has boosted optimism once more amongst Luton followers, who witnessed their side hit the ground running with their Carabao Cup triumph at the Priestfield Stadium, earning a second round trip to Chelsea. Asked about taking last season’s finish into the new campaign, Wilshere added: “We have to, we have to keep that momentum. We were building it, but it came together at the end of the season. In terms of the energy we had, the purpose we had when we're going into games, when we were attacking, the purpose we had and most importantly, the togetherness and the unity that the players showed, that wasn’t always easy at times.

"But you have to go through those tough moments to be successful in my opinion and that’s my message to the players, to the staff, to everyone, let's keep that going, let's keep that feeling going. We’ve worked on a few things this season that we feel can help us and give us a better chance to be successful, but most important is energy, is commitment and is unity.”