Northampton sign Richard O’Donnell as Ingram returns to QPR
Northampton Town have signed goalkeeper Richard O’Donnell from Rotherham United, and have let Matt Ingram return to parent club QPR.
The Cobblers have signed the 29-year-old goalkeeper for an undisclosed fee. The player has signed a two and a half year contract with his new club.
The goalkeeper began his career at Sheffield Wednesday and has previously played for Bristol City, Wigan, Walsall and Chesterfield, as well as making appearances on loan for Stockport, York, Macclesfield and Buxton among others.
O’Donnell joined Rotherham from Bristol City 12 months ago, but has found himself behind Marek Rodak in the pecking order in recent months.
The Cobblers manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink told the club’s website, “Richard is an excellent keeper who has extensive experience of playing in the Championship and League 1. He has over 250 appearances under his belt and he is a good age for a keeper.
“Richard has a great attitude, he will be one of the leaders and a good influence in the dressing room and I am sure he will do well for us.”
His arrival is the Cobblers’ 4th signing of the January window, following the recent arrivals of Shay Facey, Jack Bridge and Hildeberto Pereira at Sixfields.
Ingram had initially joined Northampton on a season long loan from the Championship club, having played for QPR against Northampton in a First Round Carabao Cup tie. In all, he made 20 appearances for the Cobblers.
Hasselbaink said the player’s departure was down to wanting a permanent goalkeeper as a first choice in case QPR needed to recall him.
He said, “Matt has done really well for us and we would like to thank him for his efforts. It is never ideal having a loan player as your goalkeeper as you always run the risk of losing a player who is on loan, so we wanted to investigate the possibility of making a permanent goalkeeper signing.
“We have been able to progress that and are delighted to be able to bring Richard in, and so the natural conclusion of that is that Matt will return to his parent club with our thanks and best wishes.”