UPDATED: Still hopes Whalley thrives at Telford after Bucks beat off competition for his signature

Livewire Luton winger Shaun Whalley has joined AFC Telford United on loan until February 22 after they beat off competition from a number of other Conference clubs, writes Mark Wood.
Cambridge United v Luton Town. Photos by Liam Smith. wk 03.Cambridge United v Luton Town. Photos by Liam Smith. wk 03.
Cambridge United v Luton Town. Photos by Liam Smith. wk 03.

Town manager John Still also revealed that he is likely to let a couple of his other young stars leave on loan as he looks to aid their development with a greater taste of senior men’s football.

Whalley’s move to the Bucks, meanwhile, will see him reunited with former boss Liam Watson, under whom he flourished at Southport before leaving Haig Avenue to join the Hatters in the summer.

And Still is hoping the move will help to get the best out of him after Whalley struggled to find his best form at Kenilworth Road.

He said: “I think Shaun’s going out on loan, that’s being done today.

“It will be Telford, we had a few clubs ask about him. More than a few, Wrexham, Lincoln, someone else...

“I think it’s ideal for Shaun because he’s going back to his former manager. I just think that might be ideal for him - he thinks it will be ideal for him.”

Having brought in the likes of Cameron McGeehan and Ryan Inniss on loan from Premier League clubs, and having signed defender Fraser Franks from Welling United, Still believes his squad is now ready to cope with anything.

It also enabled him to let other players in need of games leave on loan too, with striker Alex Wall joining Skrill Premier rivals Dartford.

Still said: “I think that whatever gets thrown at us in the next two or three weeks we can cover for. It’s enabled us to put some of the lads that we felt needed to go on loan out on loan once again to get games.

“Alex Wall once again to get games was a big one for us, because he’s fit now. He was probably suffering from not playing enough football because he had missed quite a bit. Fortunately we were able to get him out on loan.

“Shaun’s another one who missed a lot of games after starting the season. It wasn’t great and I just think it will give him a boost.

“These players when they do come back, I think they will be at the peak of their performances and that’s what we are hoping for.”

Luton have a number of promising young players of their own coming through the ranks too and Still is looking for them to gain experience elsewhere too.

He said: “I think that before next Friday, which is the last day of the window, I think we will have one or two more out on loan.

“Maybe the younger ones, I think that will be good for them.”

But he’s keen they should join the right kind of clubs and get the right kind of tutelage.

Still added: “You tend to know people, this is a weird game. Everyone talks, whether you’re up there or whether you’re down there.

“We’ve got Ryan here, who’s from a Premier League club. Cameron here is from a Premier League club.

“All levels you talk to people, you see games and that happens here. We have lots of people asking us and sometimes you can see a fit and you go, ‘yeah, I’m happy with that, that’s fine.’

“And if you don’t you send a circular out, and normally within a couple of days, if there’s any interest it comes through.

“It isn’t a case sometimes of we want him on loan, I’ll let him go. I like to know where they’re going, I like to know the side they’re going to and the manager and, because we work a certain way here, it’s nice if they go to places where it’s similar.

“It hasn’t got to be the same. We all teach people slightly differently and I think with the young ones it’s not so bad if they go and learn a different way, it’s not a problem with that.

“But if they’re a little bit older and that close to your first team, you perhaps want the habits that they’ve got with you, they’re habits you want them to use, so you have to be a little bit careful.”