Town chief hopeful to have centre half Burke available for Luton before the New Year

Town defender Reece Burke is closing in on a first team return

Luton manager Rob Edwards is remaining hopeful that defender Reece Burke will be available to feature for the Hatters before the New Year.

The 26-year-old had been in excellent form this term, making nine appearances in all competitions, with seven starts in the Championship, scoring once, that a quite brilliant curling effort against Blackburn Rovers.

However, he then suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of the 2-0 victory at his former club Hull City on September 30, forcing the ex-West Ham centre half to sit out the last 11 fixtures.

He is now back at the Brache though, but having only ever been able to start six second tier games in a row since signing from the Tigers 18 months ago, Edwards wants to make sure Burke avoids breaking down again.

Although Sunday’s clash with Millwall is expected to come too soon, Town also host Norwich City on Boxing Day and go to QPR on December 29, before kicking off 2023 at Huddersfield Town.

On when he hopes to have the defender back, Edwards said: “I wouldn’t want to put a timescale on it, but then I’m probably going to!

"We hope in the next couple of weeks, so hopefully just before the New Year, that would be ideal.

"I don't want to put too much pressure on him either, I want him back and him to stay back, that’s the main thing right now, but we’ve got a little bit of hope that he might be before the New Year.”