Will Townsend provide the spark?

Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

Andros Townsend played an hour for the Luton Town development side on Tuesday and scored for the young Hatters team. He also played for them a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't long after that the former England international was given a Luton contract until January after his trial.

He could be involved with the first team for the first time on Saturday away to Nottingham Forest.

This feels a bit like the Ross Barkley signing. We're not quite sure what we're going to get.

Townsend is 32. Barkley just a few years younger. Both were regular Premier League players over a number of seasons in the previous decade.

But injuries and form have diminished their Premier League status and the pair now find themselves at Kenilworth Road.

Townsend has been hit harder by injury suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage at Everton which stopped him playing for 18 months.

So what sort of Townsend are Luton fans going to see? Can he reach the consistent levels he did when he spent those five good years at Crystal Palace?

Hatters supporters will hope so and that he can add quality and Premier League experience to the Luton team. Rob Edwards's side are still finding scoring goals difficult [six in eight games] and Townsend might just be able to add some spark to the team.

He's likely to be deployed on the right which will give Luton further attacking options. But as Barkley has found in a Hatters shirt, it is difficult hitting the ground running in the top flight. Barkley has yet to hit anywhere near the levels we have seen from him in the past.

There is still time for Barkley and of course we await to see whether Townsend still has it. It's these type of players Luton have to call upon if they are after genuine Premier League experience and you can understand why both are worth a punt.

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