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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE international Marvelous Nakamba made a winning start in the colours of Luton Town when he featured in the 1-0 win over Stoke City in the Sky Bet English Championship football at the weekend.

The 29-year-old midfielder started his new life in the second-tier of English football after he was introduced as a 62nd minute substitute.

Nakamba left English Premiership side Aston Villa last week after he was loaned out to the side for the remainder of the season.

The Hwange — born midfielder is on a journey to rediscover himself after he was forced out of Aston Villa as he was not in the plans of the club’s new boss, Unai Emery.

He was starved of game time for the past nine months at Villa, having last played a competitive league football match back in May last year.

Nakamba had to accept a “downgrade” to the second-tier after finding no offers in the English Premiership by the transfer deadline last Tuesday.

Luton own assistant coach Paul Trollope said Nakamba will gradually fit into the system once he gets fully fit.

“Physically, we’ll have to assess him in the short term to make sure his game exposure is right so that he plays a really big part for the rest of the season.

“He is obviously a good level player, with Premier League experience, you can see he’s fitted straight into the group.

“He’s a really good character which I think fits in with the group very well.

“It’s pretty obvious to see his game time over the last year, 18 months, was not what he wanted to be so we’re going to have to manage him well but we’ve brought,” said Trollope.

The Zimbabwean midfielder is expected to play a part in Luton Town’s push for a play-off place and possible promotion to the English Premiership.

Luton Town have been in good form of late, and they made it six wins from seven matches in the Championship following the 1-0 victory over Stoke City on Saturday.

Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu’s first goal of the season, a trademark shot from outside the box, proved the difference between the sides as Town reinforced their position in the play-off places.

Edwards made one change to the side that beat Cardiff 1-0 in midweek to move into the top six, with Allan Campbell replacing Cauley Woodrow, who was amongst the substitutes.

With match fitness concerns lingering over him because of the prolonged drought at Aston Villa, Nakamba had to start on the bench along with fellow deadline day signing Joe Taylor and the fit-again James Shea.

Edwards made his first changes with Nakamba and Fred Onyedinma coming on in the place of Alan Campbell and another new arrival Cody Drameh on loan from Leeds United, soon after the hour mark.

However, Edwards’ side remained 17 points adrift of leaders Burnley.

Burnley, with 65 points, and Sheffield United (58) are well-positioned to gain automatic entry as the top two teams at the end of the marathon after breaking away from the rest of competition with some considerable points in this second half of the campaign.

But there is hope for Luton Town as the four clubs placed from third to sixth in the table, will also have a chance via the playoffs.

Luton were able to see out stoppage time on Saturday with relatively few scares, as they sealed a third home win from four under Edwards, further cementing themselves in the play-off places.

The victory made it back-to-back home wins for the first time this season.

Luton boss Edwards doesn’t want to hear any more talk of his side being deemed as plucky underdogs in the race for the Championship play-offs this season.

“I’m not buying that underdog stuff anymore.  “I don’t like it, our players don’t like it, as we’ve got really good players here that are capable of playing at a very, very good level and they’re showing that now.

“So I want to sort of knock that away at the moment.

“I get it, I know from the outside, but there’s big plans at the moment for the club to keep progressing and moving forward.

“But I’ve got to stress here, I believe in these players, these lads are top players and they’re showing it.”

With 29 games completed, Luton find themselves with a five-point cushion over Millwall in seventh now.

Attention now turns to the Emirates FA Cup, where Edwards’ side have the opportunity to make it into the Fifth Round where a tie against Southampton awaits. They play Grimsby Town in the fourth round tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, compatriot Tino Kadewere was an unused substitute yesterday when Mallorca claimed a famous 1-0 win over La Liga champions Real Madrid yesterday.

There was no love lost between the teams as a total of 10 yellow cards were shown but the hosts held off Real Madrid with a dogged defensive effort after taking a first half advantage through an own goal by Spanish defender Nacho Fernandez.

Marco Asensio had a chance to turn the script around but his second half penalty was saved by Mallorca goalkeeper Predrag Rajković. Another Zimbabwean, Jordan Zemura was involved in a loss on Saturday when Bournemouth were beaten 1-0 by Brighton and Hove Albion in the English Premiership. Bournemouth currently sit second from the bottom.