Luton Town key figure speaks out on position after failure to secure Nottingham Forest transfer deal | OneFootball

Luton Town coach Paul Trollope is relaxed about the club’s centre-back situation at this stage despite failing to strengthen this position last month, speaking to Luton Today.

The Hatters did manage to address other areas, with right-back Cody Drameh arriving from Leeds United to replace James Bree, Jack Walton securing a permanent switch and Marvelous Nakamba strengthening their midfield.

Joe Taylor also came in to replace Harry Cornick and Cameron Jerome, with the former sealing a move to league rivals Bristol City and the latter taking a step down to join Bolton Wanderers.

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With this, many Hatters supporters will be pleased with their side’s business this month, especially when considering the lack of business some other clubs in the division were able to complete.

Amari’i Bell and Dan Potts are their only suitable left centre-backs at this point though and with one of the duo potentially required to play at left wing-back at some stage, they may have been disappointed not to have brought in another central defender.

They opted against a move for former free agent Michael Hector who has gone on to join Charlton Athletic since then – but looked to be in pole position to sign Nottingham Forest’s Steve Cook on deadline day despite interest from elsewhere.

The Hatters were unable to get a deal over the line for the Forest man though – but Trollope is relaxed about his side’s centre-back options.

He said: “I’m not going to sit here and talk about players that didn’t come and speculation, but the window’s shut, we’re happy with the squad.

“We’re happy with the progress we’ve made since we’ve been in and we believe in the players that are here.

“Full backs playing in wide centre black slots, it’s not a full back playing centre back in a back four so we’re happy we’ve got a bit of flexibility across the back line.”

Both Potts and Bell have shown that they can be decent options in a more central role when fit and available, although both can be real assets going forward and that’s why they can be trusted to play both centrally and at wing-back.

January addition Drameh is someone that the Hatters should be looking to keep at wing-back though – because he showed at Cardiff City last season that he’s most effective when given the chance to venture into the final third.

The Leeds man looks to be an excellent signing and you feel he’s an excellent replacement for Bree, although they should be looking to sign a permanent replacement for the Southampton man in the summer.

It’s just a shame they didn’t manage to bring in Cook because he was a difference-maker at Forest last season, helping to keep things tight at the back along with Joe Worrall and Scott McKenna.

You almost feel as though the ex-AFC Bournemouth man was an unsung hero at the City Ground – and he could have definitely been an asset for the Hatters over the next 18 months or so if the deal had gone through.