Matt Ingram has already shelved his honeymoon once - and his unexpected tilt at the play-offs means he has to do so again.
Goalkeeper Ingram got the call last week to join Luton Town on an emergency loan following a string of injuries to their regular stoppers. Ingram had been bumped back down to number two at his parent club Hull City and so jumped at the chance of an unlikely stab at winning promotion to the Premier League with the Hatters.
His temporary spell got off to a nightmare start though, when Ingram kept goal in the 7-0 thumping at the hands of Fulham.
That result ensured the Cottagers lifted the Championship title in a carnival atmosphere in West London. It meant Nathan Jones' side had to hold their nerve on the final day of the season and beat Reading to confirm their top-six spot. And thankfully they did just that, with Ingram keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win that secured sixth spot for Jones' men. They will now face Huddersfield Town over two legs, with the winners to face either Nottingham Forest or Sheffield United at Wembley on May 29.
Ingram, aged 28, married his wife Amelia last year and the couple had been due to go away to the Maldives, only to delay the trip for 12 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now though, his involvement with Luton has meant another delay to the once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Speaking of the predicament for Ingram, Jones said: "He cancelled his honeymoon, if he had any sense he’d have cancelled his wedding! But he’s in a wonderful place, so we’re delighted for him.
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“I just wanted to emphasise the fact that what a wonderful thing that he does something he hasn't got to do, to come in and have the opportunity to play in play-offs. I was fortunate enough to play in three play-offs, some players don’t get that opportunity.
"To be able to do that, just shows the commitment to us and that's a loan player, so fantastic. That’s what this club is built on. I remember when some sides were down the bottom and we were down the bottom (in 2020), I spoke to all our players and loan players and players that were out of contract, ‘do you want to continue to play for this football club during this thing as you’re risking injury?’
"And 99.9 per cent did, because there was only one who wanted to go back to his parent club, and everyone else played. Other clubs didn't do that, other clubs had big players pull out, so they didn't want to get injured as they were going to go for a big move. But this club is built on things like that and that is why is we were in the position we are.”
Ingram is out of contract at Hull in the summer but some eye-catching performances in the coming weeks could well put him in the shop window for a new club.
Jones was full of praise after Ingram's maiden clean sheet, adding: “To come in your debut, when you come in on an emergency loan and you’ve had a keeper who’s done really well and you’ve replaced him and then you ship seven, it takes some psychology to come back in, but he did.”
