'It comes down to risk and reward' when managing injuries

I spoke to a Luton fan who was on his way to the Arsenal game on Wednesday and he said they were going to the title challengers but they might be playing their youth team players.

It was tongue in cheek, but it told the story.

There is always management when it comes to injuries and it comes down to risk and reward. There will be times when you bring a player back and you think "we should have left him for another two weeks" - but they need to be in the team because the team is struggling.

It has a knock-on effect because it is ultimately a risk. It is not just down to the medical team, it is the manager and the player themselves. The player will want to be available and play.

Sometimes you can get away with and sometimes you cannot.

International breaks have cost a lot of teams players. That has not really affected Luton in a big way, but their players are playing high-intensity football.

There are a lot of games and they do not get the rest they need. When you are pushing your body to the max, you have to expect injuries.

Michael Brown was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford