Town chief impressed with his Arsenal and Manchester City loan stars during Cottagers loss

Town boss Rob Edwards was hugely impressed with both of his on-loan stars, Arsenal midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga and Manchester City wingback Issa Kabore, during Luton’s 1-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday.

Lokonga, 23, was making his Premier League debut for the Hatters, thrust straight into the starting line-up after having had a fortnight to work with his new team-mates since arriving on transfer deadline day.

Playing alongside Marvelous Nakamba, the Belgian international had 32 touches as Luton found themselves without possession for the majority of the contest, attempting 22 passes with an 81.8% success rate.

He had a good link-up with fellow loanee Kabore on the right hand side, as the Hatters had some real joy at times when attacking down that flank, with Edwards saying afterwards: “I thought he was excellent.

"His use of the ball was good, his work-rate was very good as well.

"He’s an intelligent footballer and will give us some really nice balance between defensive solidity and then also some really good football as well, so I'm very pleased with him.”

Lokonga was one of four changes made by Edwards at Craven Cottage, who also brought in Jacob Brown, Tom Lockyer and Kabore from the 2-1 loss to West Ham United.

Kabore had his best game in a Town shirt so far, sending over inviting crosses that saw Brown and Lockyer both fail to convert.

He also let fly with his own effort that deflected narrowly over, as Edwards added: “There were some moments, his cross for Browny’s chances and Locks one as well, so some good little bits in the final third from Issa.

"We know what he’s got, he’s a real threat with his speed, so I was pleased with a lot of the individual performances to be honest.”