Luton Outlaws - Independent Message Board for Luton Town FC

Luton Town have FIFTY (50) professional footballers at present, of which 27 do not need to be named in a 22/25 man squad by virtue of being qualifed as an U21.

I applaud at the attempt to try and bring through a stream of players, perhaps reinventing the academy away from exclusively U18s, but to signing players above this age group.

Some youngsters really stepped up yesterday, admittedly against very poor opposition in the second half.

But I'm concerned that we're not getting these players into mens football quickly enough. I think only 11 of those 27 have played senior football at the Conference or above.

There have never been as many professional footballers in England than now - the PFA should be very happy that many are going nowhere in their early careers.

In theory, by virtue of having the EFL Trophy this season, there is a real opportunity to get these players out. The dates of the competition are not out, but the L16 last season was completed before the end of the January transfer window. We should treat this like we're one of the PL U21 sides (I know there are rules around senior appearances).

I was impressed with Jayden Luker yesterday - for the 30 minute spell, I thought he put himself about really well. Equally, I thought Paternoster and Chigozie looked comfortable on the ball. The latter (I think) still qualifies for the U18s? Ben Benagr hasn't been involved yet, but there are a lot of positive noises about him. Josh Phillips also got a new contract - he could be one that we get into L2 almost straight away.

The most impressive player out of this group yesterday was Taylan Harris. He looks like he's ready for being a backup L1 striker. I would expect he'd do well for a top end L2 club.

Lots of positives, I just hope that we get the opportunity to address the bottleneck.