Two changes for the Hatters as Luton boss is wary of Fletcher threat

Luton Town have made two changes from Tuesday night’s disappointing 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield for this afternoon’s clash with Blackpool at Kenilworth Road this afternoon.

Winger Shayden Morris is back in alongside striker Nahki Wells, with Liam Walsh missing out on the squad, while Jake Richards drops to the bench. The striker is joined by Izzy Jones for the first time since the 5-0 defeat to Barnsley in November, while Ali Al-Hamadi is also among the substitutes as is George Saville.

Ex-Hatter Josh Bowler is in the visitors’ XI, with the line being led by former Manchester United youngster Ashley Fletcher, who has a superb 18 goals in 23 outings this season. Speaking about the threat of the forward, Luton boss Jack Wilshere said: “I was at West Ham and he had left by the time I went there, but when I was there people were speaking about him.

"You keep your eyes on players and he’s someone who at this level is a real threat. He’s third top goalscorer in this league and it’s not always easy to score goals in this league because of the way teams play and the way they want to defend, so he’s someone that we have to watch. He plays up there with someone else and they work off each other really well, one comes short, one goes behind and he’s probably found a style that suits him, so we have to make sure we can control him.

"This league, I’ve said it loads, every single team you play against you have to make sure you do certain things really, really well. They’re aggressive, they play forward, they play with two up top which makes it difficult, they play long balls into them, so we have to compete for that and again we’re going to have to find our way in the game before we can start trying to impose and take over the game, take control of the game.

“We know their threat, they have aggressive wingbacks as well who like to get forward and put balls in the box, so another tough game, another challenge that we’re going to have to make sure we’re ready for, we’re ready to compete, ready to fight and then earn our right to get on the ball and take our chances when they come.”

Hatters: Josh Keeley, Nigel Lonwijk, Mads Andersen, Teden Mengi, Joe Johnson, Kasey Palmer, Jordan Clark (C), Gideon Kodua, Cohen Bramall, Shayden Morris, Nahki Wells. Subs: James Shea, Kal Naismith, Ali Al-Hamadi, George Saville, Izzy Jones, Jake Richards, Emilio Lawrence.

Seasiders: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, James Husband ©, Olly Casey, Jordan Brown, Lee Evans, Ashley Fletcher, Josh Bowler, Michael Ihiekwe, Michael Obafemi, CJ Hamilton, Zac Ashworth. Subs: Franco Ravizzoli, Niall Ennis, Tom Bloxham, Ryan Finnigan, Theo Upton, Terry Bondo, Spencer Knight. Referee: Martin Woods.