Young Hatters duo Luker and Benagr make Luton debuts against Gillingham

Young Luton duo Jayden Luker and Benny Benagr have been handed their first team debuts for the Hatters in today’s Carabao Cup first round clash at League Two Gillingham.

The pair, who came through the ranks at Kenilworth Road, caught the eye of manager Jack Wilshere during pre-season, and now get an opportunity to showcase their talents in a competitive fixture. They join summer George Johnston in getting a maiden run-out in Town colours, with the centre half starting following his summer move from Bolton Wanderers, while Newcastle United loanee Harrison Ashby is on the bench, although fellow new addition Callum Marshall misses out with a slight knock.

On Luker, who has been on loan at Woking, Grimsby Town and Notts County during the last few seasons, recovering from a serious knee injury at the Magpies to feature in the League Two play-off final victory over Salford City in May, Wilshere said: “He’s here, that’s for sure. He was injured last season and sometimes I think it’s not always a bad thing for his development at that point of where he is in his career, as he has to then dig in, he has to create something else within himself and he’s certainly done that.

"He’s fought his way back into the Notts County team and played in the final there, scored in the semi-final, so he’s played in big games and had big moments in big games. We were really aware of him, I think what I also liked about him was when he first came back in in pre-season, he made it clear to me that he wants to play.

"Of course, like any young player, once you’ve experienced that, you then have to keep that going, so that was always his challenge for his pre-season, was the midfield he had to find a way of forcing his way into that and showing himself in every single training session. Then when you get given the opportunity, he’s certainly done that and someone I’ve really enjoyed working with. I want to continue working with as I think there’s a lot more to come from him.”

Luton are being cheered on by a sold out away attendance this afternoon, with 852 making the trip from Bedfordshire, as on the travelling support, Wilshere added: “That was really important to us last year and the challenge for me and for the players and for the coaches was to keep that going.

"With how we planned pre-season, I think we planned a good pre-season for us, and what we needed, but always in the back of our mind was can we play against Hitchin, a local team and Barnet, to keep it local so the fans can follow us, they can see what we’re trying to do. They followed us to Spain, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw that they sold it out, but really grateful for that as that’s a really important thing we worked on and if we want to be successful this year we’re going to have to see that, especially at home.”

Gills: Owen Mason, Andy Smith, Kadeem Harris, Ronan Hale, Seb Palmer-Houlden, Robbie McKenzie, Zane Albarus, James Brophy, Omar Beckles (C), Nick Freeman, Logan Dobbs. Subs: Taite Holtam, Conor McManus, Will Goodwin, Sheldon Kendall, Harry Waddock, Michael Luxton, Damien Theodore, Harry Webster, Sully Booth.

Hatters: Josh Keeley, Izzy Jones, Kal Naismith ©, Hakeem Odoffin, George Johnston, Liam Walsh, Jordan Clark, Jayden Luker, Benny Benagr, Jake Richards, Nahki Wells. Subs: James Shea, Sverre Sandal, Mads Andersen, Shayden Morris, Joe Johnson, Harrison Ashby, Kasey Palmer, Gideon Kodua, Devante Cole.