Luton play-off winner in limbo after being left out of Nottingham Forest's 25-man squad

Luton play-off winner Ethan Horvath faces an uncertain future after the goalkeeper wasn’t included in Nottingham Forest’s 25-man Premier League squad this week.

The 28-year-old had moved to Kenilworth Road on loan last summer under previous manager Nathan Jones, going on to play 51 matches in all competitions and was between the posts at Wembley as Town beat Coventry City 6-5 on penalties to reach the Premier League.

Having attained their place in the top flight, the USA international had hoped to earn a permanent deal at Luton, with an agreement in place between the two clubs to do so for a fee reported to be around £1.5m.

However boss Rob Edwards opted against going through with that, stating he wanted to go in a ‘different direction’, eventually bringing in both Thomas Kaminski and Tim Krul during the recent transfer window.

Back at the City Ground, Horvath featured heavily in the Reds warm up matches, but ahead of the season, boss Steve Cooper signed his fellow countryman Matt Turner from Arsenal, who has gone in as number one, plus Greek international Odysseas Vlachodimos from Benfica on deadline day, with both keepers named in the squad.

They are joined by a third stopper, experienced Wales international Wayne Hennessey, leaving Horvath out in the cold, unable to secure a move away, while his non-selection means he can’t play for Forest either, unless they decide to alter their plans in January.

The keeper, who was back in the USA team for the 4-0 friendly win over Oman on Wednesday night, winning his ninth cap and first for well over a year, had signed for the Reds from Belgian side Club Brugge in July 2021.

Horvath, who has also played in Norway for Molde, has featured just 11 times for the Reds, including the final minutes as Forest won the 2022 Championship play-off final at Wembley as well.