Luton Town manager Jack Wilshere has confirmed that defender Teden Mengi needs to regain match fitness before being considered for first team action.
The 24-year-old endured an injury-hit campaign last season, missing the final three months with a hamstring injury. However, he returned to action throughout pre-season but is yet to make a competitive outing this term.
Mengi was the subject of much transfer speculation throughout the summer, with Wilshere admitting in August that it was probably best that the former Manchester United youngster moved on. However, he remained at Kenilworth Road.
Mengi Makes Bench But Remains Unused
The centre-back is undoubtedly a quality option at League One level and is currently working on forcing himself into Wilshere’s plans. He is yet to make a matchday squad in the league but was named amongst the substitutes for Tuesday night’s emphatic 6-0 win over Ipswich Town under-21s in the EFL Trophy.
Despite that, Mengi remained on the bench, with the manager explaining his decision afterwards. Via The Lutonian, the ex-Arsenal and England midfielder said:
“There was an intention to play him. We had some long conversations over the last few days about it. About the risk. Because potentially if we do play him, he hasn’t done much.
“He had a full pre-season, got himself into a good place, and then there was a little bit of confusion around the transfer window, probably is the right word.
“And he was a bit stop-start. Then at the beginning of last week he missed, I think, three days with an illness.
“And we looked at his training load and we didn’t feel like it was the right time to put him onto the pitch and play his first game that he’s played in ages.”
Wilshere Reveals Upcoming Plan
Luton are without a fixture until October 10th, with their games against Huddersfield Town and Doncaster Rovers postponed due to international call-ups. This gives Mengi an opportunity to build up his match fitness, with Wilshere confirming he will be given an opportunity with the under-21 team:
“He probably does need to play some 21s games and let’s see, let’s see how he gets through them. He needs to play minutes, I’m very aware of that, he’s very aware of that, but he also needs to train consistently and build some robustness.”
The under-21s are next in competitive action when they take on Newcastle United in the Premier League Cup on October 9th.
