Town defender likened to Italy and AC Milan legend Franco Baresi by Hatters assistant

​Town's in-form centre half Tom Lockyer has been likened to legendary Italian defender Franco Baresi by Hatters’ assistant Richie Kyle, according to Luton chief Rob Edwards.

The 28-year-old has been simply magnificent this term, earning a call-up to the Wales squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Croatia and Latvia earlier this week.

Speaking about his inclusion, Luton boss Rob Edwards revealed how his staff had compared him to the former AC Milan defender, who made over 700 appearances during his 20 years at AC Milan, after yet another dominant display during the 1-0 win at Sheffield United on Saturday.

He said: “Richie called him Franco Baresi I think after the game the other day, so high praise from Richie Kyle!

"Locks has been performing really well, really consistently and it’s no surprise at all, I’m really pleased for him.”

Lockyer was part of the Welsh squad that went to the World Cup in Qatar recently, although didn’t actually feature, meaning his 14th and last cap came in a goalless draw against Finland back in September 2021.

Edwards hopes he now gets a chance to play under Rob Page, as he continued: “I said it the other week, I would never try and pick Pagey’s team at all, or tell him what to do.

"But in my eyes, with how Tom’s been performing, he’s certainly performing at a level good enough to go and play for the national team.

"He’s been outstanding.”

Lockyer carried on his high class displays during the terrific 1-0 victory at the Blades, helping the Hatters to a 15th clean sheet of the campaign and a first win at Bramall Lane since 1994.

Edwards added: “It was an outstanding performance from him.

"He’s rising to every single occasion, every single challenge and just looks every inch the top player.

“There’s a lot of really good performances, but again if you're going to keep a clean sheet here, you’re going to need your defence to perform and I thought they did that really, really well.”