Town’s key on-loan Arsenal midfielder Sambi Lokonga has allayed any fears that he will be out for a significant period of time after going off in Wednesday night’s 4-1 defeat to league leaders Liverpool.
The 24-year-old had been playing brilliantly for the first forty-five minutes at Anfield. Against players like Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, he played a major role in the Hatters’ 1-0 victory, which came from Chiedozie Ogbene’s third goal of the year. He put on an incredible display, but none more so than when he faced his own goal and two Reds players surrounded him. Not only was he able to shrug them off and hold onto the ball, but he also found a teammate.
Nevertheless, he was forced to leave the pitch holding his thigh when the whistle blew for halftime. Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu took his place, and Liverpool made the most of his absence, putting on an incredible second half performance that saw them score four goals and widen their lead over Manchester City to four points. There were concerns that Lokonga, a Belgian international who has been an important part of the Hatters’ engine room alongside Ross Barkley in recent weeks, might be sidelined for some time after missing nearly three months of play earlier in the season due to a hamstring injury. This would have been devastating to Luton’s hopes of competing this season.
But it doesn’t seem to be the case, as Lokonga stated in a post on Instagram: “I appreciate all of your words and concerns. Thank you to everyone for them! I wanted to let you know that my scan revealed no serious problems, therefore I should be returning to the field very soon! Let’s proceed! #onamission.
In his post-match news conference, Edwards made it evident that he had been among those worried about the status of his injury. He stated, “I’m not sure if it’s the same, he’s just feeling it, lower hamstring, so in the end it was the right thing to do to take him out.” It was uncomfortable for him to continue, so I sincerely hope he’s alright; we’ll have to wait and see. We’re asking our boys to work hard and run hard right now and all the time, and Sambi has been fantastic. Our running is really intense, therefore you face the constant risk of spraining your muscles. This year has been busy, and it might be difficult to keep everyone up to date.
Leave a Reply