Town defender is ruled out for two to three weeks with a groin injury
Wingback to miss Luton’s next few games
Luton defender Reuell Walters has been ruled out for two to three weeks after suffering a groin injury during Saturday’s 2-0 victory against Peterborough United.
The 20-year-old had been handed a second successive start at the Weston Homes Stadium but was withdrawn at half time with the scores goalless. Although he had struggled somewhat in the opening 45 minutes, Bloomfield admitted afterwards that the substitution had been down to an injury and not a selection issue, as discussing the full extent of the problem, the Town chief said: “It’s a groin, a couple of weeks, two to three weeks that we expect Reu to miss.
"It’s disappointing for Reu and for us, especially in such a busy period of games, so I think that’s the only one so far. There was one little niggle outside in training so we’ll have to see if that settles down before the weekend, but I think that’s it. Apart from that it's been positive in terms of players starting to work their way back towards fitness.”
The injury to Walters further hinders Luton’s options at wingback, as with Alfie Doughty having been sold to Millwall before the campaign began, Joe Johnson injured, with recent addition Cohen Bramall now building up his fitness levels, then Nigel Lonwijk and Milli Alli have been filling in on the left hand side in recent matches. With Walters now out, it could well be that Lonwijk heads to the right at Bradford City, although West Ham loanee Gideon Kodua is also an option after impressing in Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup clash with Coventry City.
Discussing the continued issues in that specific area, as he persists with the three man defensive system he has been working on since arriving as manager in January, Bloomfield added: “It’s finding the right balance. I thought Nige was absolutely excellent when he came on, especially on the right hand side on Saturday. We want to attack in those areas and last night (at Coventry City) with Gids and Cohen, it looked probably more like where want to go in using those as attacking players, but again, Gids has just been with us, Cohen has just been with us.
"We’ve got to work towards where we want to get and we’ve got to be solid and try to pick up points in the meantime while we work towards the final product. I think that was probably a little insight into it, but Milli’s done that role for us, Nige has done excellent in that role at times, and he’ll continue to offer, although we know his best position is going to be within the back three. So it’s getting the balance of the squad right to make sure that we can really go after the way of playing that we’re trying to do.
“It’s a balance because again historically we’ve played 4-2-3-1 more than we’ve played three at the back, and had that attacking instinct. We believe the squad where it’s at right now suits the three which is why we’re doing that, but it’s only the right thing to do if you’re creating chances and attacking in the way that we want to. It’s getting the right pieces in the right places, when they’re fit, when they’re sharp, when they’re at the right place in their time to go and continue.
"So yes, I think it’s important that we keep balancing our options. We all want to be the final team absolutely as soon as possible and there’s no-one working harder towards that than us as coaching staff. We want to be that team right now, but we feel like we’re on the way to getting towards that team, and getting the right players in the right positions at the right time is going to be crucial to that coming to life, which is what we’re trying to do.”