Town boss explains why he signed Hull keeper Ingram on an emergency loan ahead of Cottagers clash

Debut to forget as stopper concedes seven in Fulham thrashing
Matt Ingram had a debut to forget when conceding seven at Fulham on Monday nightMatt Ingram had a debut to forget when conceding seven at Fulham on Monday night
Matt Ingram had a debut to forget when conceding seven at Fulham on Monday night

Luton boss Nathan Jones has explained why he decided to bring Hull City goalkeeper Matt Ingram in as an emergency loan signing ahead of the trip to Fulham on Monday evening.

The 28-year-old joined Town on a seven-day deal on Sunday afternoon, which can be extended should Hatters reach the play-offs, going straight into the side for the match at Craven Cottage, due to EFL rules.

With previous loan signing Jed Steer rupturing his Achilles and James Shea suffering knee ligament damage, third choice Harry Isted had been in goal for the 1-1 draw with Blackpool recently.

Matt Ingram in action for the Hatters at Craven CottageMatt Ingram in action for the Hatters at Craven Cottage
Matt Ingram in action for the Hatters at Craven Cottage

However, that left just youth teamer Jameson Horlick on the bench, the 19-year-old having no experience of men’s football under his belt, so Jones decided to act, signing the former Wycombe stopper, who cost QPR £450,000 back in 2016, and had already played 29 times for his parent club this term, including twice against Luton.

On why he chose to bring the keeper in when he did, Jones said: “When you try to get an emergency keeper, no-one in the Championship is going to lend you a goalkeeper, because they’re all using them.

"So for example, let’s use West Brom, West Brom are not going to let us have one of their two keepers, because they need them, for example.

"So you have to either go with someone that’s not ready as when you bring them in, they have to play, which is detrimental.

"Or you risk and gamble and go in with your number three, or Harry for example, and having no-one else to come on.

"Now it’s a silly rule as the Premier League, everyone has four goalkeepers and two of them never play a football game.

"But you can’t get a loan from the Premier League as apparently it gives you an unfair advantage, but it’s an emergency loan for a reason.”

It wasn’t a debut Ingram will want to remember with any fondness whatsoever though, beaten seven times, as the Cottagers ran riot, lifting the Championship title in the process.

There was little he could do with any of the goals, as although conceding twice from range, both attempts were pretty much in the bottom corner, while he was often left exposed as Fulham sliced their way through the Town back-line with alarming regularity to find the net.

Ingram did make one fine stop from Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the second period, but it was of little consolation, as Jones added: “It was a tough game for him today, because he couldn’t really do too much about a lot of them.

“They (Fulham) were excellent, we were not, but it all boils down to Saturday.”