Warriors face Nakamba blow

Sport
Nakamba sustained a knee injury while on national duty during the November World Cup qualifiers in Rwanda.

LUTON TOWN manager Rob Edwards has given a bleak assessment of Warriors captain Marvelous Nakamba’s recovery progress, hinting the player may miss the remainder of the campaign.

If Nakamba fails to play the Hatters’ final English Premier League match of the season on May 3 against Fulham, there is little chance he will play in the Warriors’ next Group C 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier on June 3 against Lesotho.

The venue for that game against Lesotho is yet to be announced.

Nakamba sustained a knee injury while on national duty during the November World Cup qualifiers in Rwanda.

He posted a video of himself on social media going through light training and said: “The comeback is always stronger than the setback. See you soon.”

However, speaking to Luton Today on Monday, Edwards said Nakamba is in the early stages of recovery and the coach would not commit to the defensive midfielder making a return anytime soon.

“He’s still in the very early stages of it (recovery) at the moment, so whether we get him back before the end of the season it’s still very touch and go on that one,” Edwards told Luton Today.

He added: “It has always been a concern (that he might not play again this term) since he did it. We always said it was going to go deep into it and it was going to be months. I don’t want to put any more pressure on him now, he’s working hard, but it’s all very, very early stages, biking and things like that now.”

Returning from national duty in November, Nakamba, missed three matches for Luton Town and then played one, the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on December 10.

He was injured at training and went underwent surgery. Nakamba has missed nine matches for Luton Town, a side he permanently joined in the current season from Aston Villa.

Nakamba was part of the Warriors’ squad that drew against Rwanda and Nigeria in the World Cup qualifiers in November last year.

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