QPR’s Alex Smithies has told Get West London that his deputy Matt Ingram, currently on loan with Northampton Town, is one of the best young goalkeepers in the country.

Smithies is currently the number one goalkeeper at QPR and was always going to keep hold of that spot after being one of the team’s best performers in what had been a mediocre season last time out. This left Ingram in a tough spot as his deputy as he wanted to play more football but that was always going to be unlikely if he stayed at Loftus Road.

And so Ingram would move on loan to Northampton and it seems to have been a brilliant decision for him. He has been excellent since moving to the Sixfields Stadium and is making a claim to be the QPR number one for when he returns to West London next year. And Smithies appears to be his biggest fan, saying that this spell with the Cobblers is the best thing for him.

He said: “I speak to Matt regularly and I know a couple of the players at Northampton and it sounds like he’s been doing well. He’s a very steady goalkeeper and as far as young goalkeepers go there’s not many with his ability at his age. I think he’ll be a top, top goalkeeper.”

“What he needed was games. Obviously he managed to get the games at Wycombe fairly young and he’s had a bit of a spell without playing too many games so I think this will do him the world of good.”