Abel Ndooka
LUTON Town boss Rob Edwards hopes that Zimbabwean midfielder Marvelous Nakamba can finally get back to his best.
Edwards revealed the two had an honest chat about the midfielder’s form ahead of his impressive display when coming off the bench against Norwich City on New Year’s Day.
The 30-year-old has struggled to reproduce anywhere near the kind of performances that saw him become such a stalwart of the Hatters midfield that won the Championship play-offs when he signed on loan from Aston Villa in January 2023.
In fact, from the 21 matches the Zimbabwean international started, Town lost just twice, as his ability to screen the defence and win the ball back in midfield saw Luton concede a miserly 12 goals in that time.
Picking up a serious knee injury in December 2023 that ruined his Premier League campaign, Nakamba was eventually deemed fit enough to start the 1-0 victory at Millwall earlier this season, going on to begin four Championship fixtures from five, as his influence looked to have returned too, Luton beaten just the once at Sheffield United.
However, some niggly injuries and below-par displays, plus falling down the pecking order as meant the ex-Club Brugge and Vitesse Arnhem player has now only started four matches since early October.
One of those was the 2-1 defeat to Swansea City in the Hatters’ final match of 2024, a contest where he couldn’t do much to prevent the hosts’ from dominating proceedings, often getting caught on the ball too.
Back on the bench for the home clash against the Canaries, it looked like he would return to his role as an unused substitute until Jordan Clark went down with 11 minutes gone, as he got the nod from his manager to enter the fray.
Instantly, it looked like the Nakamba of old was back, the popular midfielder winning his tackles with the same kind of authority Luton fans have grown accustomed too, nipping in to get the ball back from his opponents and also using it well, as he should have had an assist to his name, Tahith Chong unable to turn home his fantastic cross at the far post.
Although it couldn’t lead to a home victory, the Canaries stealing all three points after Marcelino Nunez struck with 17 minutes to go, speaking about his efforts, Edwards said:
“I was really pleased with him. We had a good conversation yesterday, Marv. I hope so (he can reach his best form again), he’s a really big player for us.
“It’s been hard to get him back to his best, but a really good chat and a great response from him.”
Discussing what had been wrong with Clark, with the midfielder having to leave the field so early on, an unusual occurrence for one of the Hatters’ first team regulars this term, Edwards added:
“He had been ill after Swansea, but he had also been feeling his quad over the last few days as well, so I’ll get to the bottom of that, it was a bit of both.” — Agencies/Sports Reporter.
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