Hatters 'working hard' to strengthen squad - Edwards

Rob Edwards signed a new four-year deal in June despite Luton's relegation from the Premier League last season

Luton Town are stepping up their search for defensive reinforcements ahead of the new Championship season because of a number of injuries in their squad.

Teden Mengi had to go off with a knee problem in the first half of Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Spanish side Celta Vigo at Kenilworth Road.

And boss Rob Edwards expects to be without Amari'i Bell, Mads Andersen and Reece Burke for their opening league game against Burnley on 12 August.

"I'm happy with the core group - the (pre-season) performances have been good, the obvious bit now is just a few reinforcements," Edwards told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We're trying very hard (to strengthen) but like every transfer, there's always lots of parties involved and it's just not straightforward.

"We know we've got to add a few more bodies and get some back from the treatment room, that's clear."

Mengi, who made 35 appearance last season - 30 of them in the Premier League - after joining the Hatters from Manchester United, is now likely to have a scan to determine the extent of his injury.

On his current absentees, Edwards said: "Amari'i is getting close, he won't be right for next week, but he's getting close, he's been on the grass and trained with us for a few days which is really positive.

"Mads is a few days ahead of Burkey, but those two are probably a few weeks behind Amari'i.

Luton equalised through Alfie Doughty's close-range volley just after the hour mark against Celta.

But having made a series of changes, late goals by Pablo Duran and Iago Aspas gave their La Liga opponents victory.

"We're going to look at the result because we have to, we're in a winning business, but that (finish) took a little bit of the gloss off a very good performance," added Edwards, who led Luton to promotion to the top flight in 2022-23.

"First half, we had loads of control against a really good team. We scored a really good goal, looked threatening and had some good chances, typical us when we're at our best.

"But we took a few off and started to lose rhythm in the last 10 minutes when we made a couple of errors.

"I'm not going to dwell on that too much though we have to make sure we don't do that again, but overall it was a very good performance against a very good team."