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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE international Marvelous Nakamba, who is on a mission to revive his football career in England, has revealed his excitement after playing the full 90 minutes for the first time since December 2021 in Luton Town’s 1-1 away draw to Coventry City in a Skybet English Championship encounter at the weekend.
The midfielder had been starved of game-time at English Premiership side Aston Villa before the deadline move to the second-tier on loan for the remainder of the season. He said he had been waiting for the opportunity and is looking to make the most of his brief loan spell to help Luton Town in their push for a promotion playoff to the English Premier League.
Nakamba last featured in a full match at Villa 14 months ago before an injury knocked his promising career with the English Premiership side off the rails.
But Luton Town, who are also home to another Zimbabwean player Admiral Muskwe, have given him a new lease of life and Nakamba appears to have embraced the opportunity to redeem himself.
“It was my first 90 minutes but I’ve been doing some extra training sessions, the technical staff and the coaches have helped me a lot,” said Nakamba.
“I’ve been training by myself for some extra training. Physically for me it is not a problem and when I play, I always give everything.
“I’m thankful to Luton for giving me the chance, I’m very grateful for the chance and I’m looking forward to giving everything for the team.”
The Hwange-born star was making his second appearance for the Championship side, following his 28-minute cameo, on his debut, in the 1-0 win over Stoke City last week.
Nakamba told the club’s website that he wants to continue ”giving everything” for the rest of the season after receiving a good welcome at The Hatters.
“Very delighted (to be here) and thank you for the welcome from the fans, from the club, everyone involved, my team-mates, I’m looking forward to giving everything to the team to help them achieve the project. There is a lot of games in the Championship and I like the intensity.”
After a tough time with injuries and limited game-time before his arrival at Kenilworth Road, Nakamba played the full match without difficulty and with praise from manager Rob Edwards.
“I thought he was marvelous, I thought he was great,” said Edwards.
“I wasn’t sure how long he was going to play but he’s just okay, Duracell battery, you know it keeps going and going and going. I thought he was outstanding. He covered the pitch so well, smells danger and he really came out with the ball.”
The midfielder helped Luton Town secure a good point on the road against Coventry City, after Tom Lockyer’s goal after 38 seconds was cancelled out by Matty Godden’s penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Edwards made two changes from the side that beat Stoke last week in Luton’s last league outing, with Nakamba making his first start for the club after coming off the bench against Stoke City last weekend.
Both sides had penalty appeals turned down inside the opening ten minutes and The Hatters couldn’t find a way through the hosts’ backline and had to settle for a point that maintained their fourth place in the Championship table ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Preston.
Luton Town made it four league games unbeaten with that hard-earned point at Coventry.
Assessing his and the team’s performance after the match, Nakamba said they had wanted to collect maximum points to drift further from competition in the race for a promotion play-off berth.
“Of course, we wanted maximum points. Unfortunately, we got a point away from home and we now look forward to the next match. “I think we had a great start and controlled the game more in the first half and then we were unlucky to concede a penalty at the end of the first half.
“But we kept on going, we just told ourselves that we needed to be focused and keep on doing the things we were told to do by our coaches.
“We were unlucky we couldn’t maximise on the chances we got but it was important we got those chances and we were there at the right time. So we just need to go back and work on it in training and focus again on the coming match,” said Nakamba.
Online Reporter