Hatters boss backs ex-Wolves defender Giles to have a 'real impact' at Luton although knows it may take time to adjust

Hatters Rob Edwards backed new boy Ryan Giles to have a ‘real impact’ during his time at Kenilworth Road, although knows it may take a period of time to adjust to his new surroundings after ending a lengthy association with tomorrow’s opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer.

The 26-year-old had come through the ranks at Molineux, spending 15 years at the club, working with Edwards when the Town chief was then U23s boss.

He only ever made one first team appearance during that time, an FA Cup clash against Shrewsbury Town, going on to have a number of loan spells, including reunited with Edwards at AFC Telford where he made his senior debut, also borrowed by Shrewsbury, Rotherham, Coventry and Blackburn, before spending last term with Middlesbrough.

It was at the Riverside Stadium where Giles caught the eye once more, jointly topping the assist list in the Championship with 11 to his name, earning his big money move to the Hatters.

He gave a flavour of his crossing ability in the 0-0 warm-up game at Wolves, which saw him handed a starting berth for the 4-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day.

Giles should have had an assist at the Amex Stadium only to see his corner headed straight at keeper Jason Steele by Carlton Morris, one of 14 crosses he delivered, five of them accurate

The wingback also began the 3-0 defeat at Chelsea, with another 10 crosses, going close to making it 1-1 with a deflected shot that was saved by Robert Sanchez.

However, he was bypassed by Raheem Sterling for the opening goal and then didn’t track Malo Gusto who set up the all-important second as the Blues had plenty of joy when attacking on their right.

Keeping his place in the side against West Ham, Giles unleashed some further impressive deliveries, one nodded on to the roof of the net by Morris, but the slight defensive deficiencies were highlighted when he and Amari’i Bell left Jarrod Bowen completely unmarked for the opener.

Dropped to the bench for Saturday’s trip to Fulham, Edwards is confident the former England U20 player will have a big impact during his time with Luton, saying: “He didn’t start last week, but we brought him here because we really like him, I really like him.

"He’s a great lad and I feel for the future of the club, he can have a real impact and be an excellent player for us.

"I recognise he’s coming into a group that’s really competitive and people are going to fight for their place.

"I don’t expect people to just roll over and go, ‘hello Gileo, have my position,’ and that’s it, they've all got to fight for it and earn it.

"I love that, I love that I’ve got real competition in a lot of places, and I think he’s made a really good start.

"We saw some really good stuff against West Ham going forward, we know there’s areas, like all of the players, there’s bits that we want to try and improve in him as well.

"I’ve got to try and select what I think is the right person in the right position against this team coming up because I want to try to play to our players strengths, but also try and look at the oppositions weaknesses and where they might be vulnerable, or where they might be strong, it might suit someone else more than him on the day and that’s what I did last week.

"We’ll see what we go with for tomorrow, but I think he’s made a good start.

"It can always be really difficult to adjust to life at a new club.

"He’s been on loan at a few places, but then you join somewhere full time and go ‘right, this is it now, this is my home for the next few years.’

"It can take a bit of time.”

Giles will no doubt be eager to earn a recall to the Hatters side for tomorrow’s contest against his former club, who have also had a difficult start to the season with just three points from their opening five games.

Edwards continued: “Yes it is (a big game), they all are for every player.

"Gileo had been at the club a long, long time, and it is.

"I remember experiencing it myself a long time ago now, I’d been at a club for a very similar amount of time to Gileo, from a young age and then I’d moved on, and it can take time to adjust.

"Every game for him or any of the players is big now, it’s in the Premier League, it’s where he wants to be.

"If he’s involved then I know he’ll have a real positive impact in the game.”

With Edwards now blessed for options in the left wingback position, he explained just why it was Bell who got the nod over both Giles and Doughty to start as the left wingback at Craven Cottage last Saturday, moving out from his left-sided centre half role.

The Luton manager added: “I think Amari is going to give us that defensive solidity and I just thought that was really important in that game.

“Looking at how we’d been in the three previous games and how Fulham would look at us and where their strengths lay, which was the rotations in the wide areas, I felt like having a little bit more of a defensive mind there from the beginning was going to be be important to make sure we stayed in the game.

"We did that, so I thought that was the right decision for that game.

"Again it can be different for every one.”