Knee injury keeps Hatters midfielder Nakamba out of Brentford clash but Lokonga's return is imminent

Luton midfielder Marvelous Nakamba is expected to miss tomorrow’s trip to Brentford due to the knee injury he picked up on international duty, although it won’t keep him out for too long according to boss Rob Edwards.

The 29-year-old had started every top flight game for the Hatters this season only to miss Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace after suffering the problem when away with Zimbabwe, with the Town chief questioning the standard of the pitch the Warriors were playing on in Rwanda.

Having had a week to recover, although a visit to the Bees will come just quickly for him to be fully fit, the former Aston Villa player isn’t anticipated to be out for long, as Edwards said: “His knee was a little bit swollen, it had a little bit of discomfort in it, we’ve had the scans and checks on it, it’s not too serious.

"We’ve been able to get him out on the grass at times this week, so I don’t think he’s going to be quite right for this weekend, but we’re very hopeful we’ll be able to see him back out there very soon. It’s a positive one that when you hear knee you start worrying that it could be worse than actually what it is, so we’re fairly positive on what it is.”

In Nakamba’s absence, Luton still managed to pick up a first home win of the Premier League campaign when defeating the Eagles, and having done so without one of their stars of last and this season, a player who possesses real top flight pedigree, impressed Edwards.

He continued: “It was a very, very tight game but we managed to come out on top, great. Marv is clearly one of our most influential players, he’s been brilliant for us since arriving at the club, a real favourite of the supporters, someone who gives absolutely everything when he’s out there, really important for us.

"But to get a win without him being there on the pitch was great. Pelly’s (Mpanzu) played in the two games that we’ve won this year, so Pelly came in and did great, Clicker (Jordan Clark) towards the end of the game.

"We’ve got a number of players who can come in that we trust, who can step up when needed.”

While Nakamba is expected to be back swiftly, the same can also be said of Arsenal loanee Albert Sambi Lokonga who picked up a serious hamstring injury just two matches into his Luton stint.

Although not part of the plans for Brentford, it won’t be long before the Belgian international is involved again, as Edwards added: “Sambi will be fit very, very soon. He’s out there full training now, trained this week, had the all-clear, it’s just tomorrow will be too soon.

"It would be silly to put him straight into the match-day squad after having a couple of days full training. So it’s just about building him up in the right way now, continuing to do a lot of the work that he’s been doing with the S&C (strength and conditioning) staff, the medical guys, continuing that work and making sure he’s really, really strong and robust. But we’ll have him out on the pitch very, very soon, which is great.”