Luton Town’s promotion ambitions have been given a huge lift following the news that striker Elijah Adebayo is closing in on a return to action.
After a run of three games without a win, the Hatters begin the weekend in 10th in League One. They are now six points behind Huddersfield Town in the final play-off spot, although the Terriers have played a game more.
A major part of their struggles this season have been down to their lack of threat in front of goal. From the top half of the table, only Stevenage have scored less than Luton’s 42 goals to date.
This was never more evident than their last fixture against Burton Albion last Saturday. Despite taking an early lead through Nakhi Wells, Jack Wilshere’s side never really looked like adding to their tally and they were made to pay when Fabio Taveres levelled in added time.
Adebayo Closing In On Return
Adebayo’s last competitive appearance came in the Championship against Leeds United last April. He has been out of action since with a knee injury, although has been upping his recovery in recent weeks. The latest step saw him take to the field for the under-21 side against Cambridge United earlier this week, where he scored the only goal of the game in a 45 minute outing.
The 28-year-old has been at Kenilworth Road since joining from Walsall in 2021 and was a huge positive during their brief stay in the Premier League. He hit 10 goals in 27 top flight appearances before the Bedfordshire-based side were instantly relegated back to the Championship.
Wilshere Confirms Adebayo Plan
Manager Wilshere is understandably reluctant to rush the attacker back to action, although will be keen to have him available for what could be a huge couple of months for Luton. Ahead of their trip to Port Vale tomorrow, the former Arsenal and England midfielder revealed the plans for the coming weeks:
“He’s getting closer, he is getting closer and you can literally see it every single day in training.
“The next step for him is that he plays games, as Tuesday was his first 45 minutes and he scored a goal which would be good for his confidence. He trained yesterday again with the group and you can see how much he benefited from that already. Again I’ve got a decision to make about when that is we bring him back into the squad, we maybe give him 15 minutes, while still trying to find him games somewhere as he needs to play.
“The next step is 60 minutes and then it’s a 90 minutes and he will benefit from that. So it will be a big boost to him, a big boost to me and the players, but also for the fans as I know how much they appreciate and love what he’s done for this club. He’s still really hungry to try and help the club so he’s not far away.”
In the meantime, Wilshere will be hoping his side can keep the heat on the teams above them to give them the best possible opportunity to sneak into the top six come May.
