YorK city goalkeeper Michael Ingham looks ahead to the FA Cup match against Stoke

10:40am Wednesday 30th December 2009

By Dave Flett

HAD fate taken a different turn then York City goalkeeper Michael Ingham might have been between the sticks for FA Cup third round hosts Stoke on Saturday.

Ingham spent a month at the Britannia Stadium during the 2001/2 season when first-choice Gavin Ward was injured.

The future Northern Ireland international was signed by Gudjon Thordarson to provide competition for Neil Cutler, but his stay proved to be an unhappy one.

A homesick Ingham, then 21, was unable to make an impression by dislodging Cutler and, while Stoke headed for promotion to the Championship and eventually the Premier League, Ingham returned to battle for recognition at Sunderland, where international duo Thomas Sorensen and Jurgen Macho provided stiff competition for a starting place.

About his brief spell at Stoke, Ingham recalled: “I was signed as cover for Neil Cutler and, really, I was waiting for him to make a mistake. Unfortunately, for me, it led to one of those situations where my arrival spurred him on.

“I think he kept four clean sheets in seven matches and won the Player of the Month award. Overall, I didn’t enjoy the experience because I was stuck down there on my own over Christmas and the New Year.

“I could have stayed for a second month, but decided to go back to Sunderland.”

Ingham went on to complete six years on Sunderland’s books before leaving for Wrexham in 2005.

During his time at the Stadium of Light, though, he shared a changing room with four players who will be among the opposition ranks at Stoke on Saturday.

Ingham’s former mentor, Sorensen, is now first choice between the sticks at the Britannia Stadium, while Liam Lawrence, Dean Whitehead and Danny Collins have also swapped their red-and-white striped allegiance.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis’ assistant is also Peter Reid who, while manager of the Premier League Black Cats, plucked Ingham from Irish part-timers Cliftonville. About renewing old acquaintances, Ingham said: “Peter Reid was the man that took a chance on me and brought me to England. I’ll be forever grateful to him for that and it will be nice to hear from him again.

“I also trained with Tommy for four years and, hopefully, if he is playing, we can swap shirts and catch up at the end of the game.

“I was lucky enough to work with established internationals like him, Thomas Myhre, Mart Poom and Jurgen Macho at Sunderland and Tommy was one of the best shot-stoppers I have ever seen.

“He had great hands and a unique style that couldn’t really be copied – a bit like Peter Schmeichel. I don’t know if that’s a Danish thing.

“He’s been a Premier League regular for ten years, so he’s clearly doing something right. I got on really well with Liam Lawrence as well.

“He lived on the same estate as me, just around the corner and I enjoyed a few nights out with him. He’s good on the ball and dangerous from out wide putting balls into the box.

“Dean Whitehead is a box-to-box player who breaks things up and Danny Collins might not be the biggest defender, but he is deceptively strong. It will be interesting to see how many of them play.”

Previous FA Cup highlights for Ingham include being on the bench for all but one of Sunderland’s matches – including the last eight win over Sheffield United – en route to the 2004 semi-finals.

He forewent the opportunity of a day out at Old Trafford, however, preferring to join League One Wrexham on loan, while Sunderland missed out on a place against Manchester United in the final following defeat to Millwall.

“I went on loan to Wrexham a few weeks before the semi-final to get some games as I always wanted to play but the lads were obviously gutted as it was a great opportunity to get to the final,” he recalled.

Three years ago, Ingham enjoyed his highest-profile FA Cup moment, though, when he was in goal for Wrexham during a 3-1 defeat at Premier League-bound Derby with on-loan Arsenal forward Arturo Lupoli beating him three times.

But, despite Derby being a Championship outfit at the time, the 29-year-old stopper believes that a much-changed Stoke team might represent a better opportunity for progress than the Rams did then.

“There were 26,000 there so it will be a similar-sized crowd, but Derby treated us with respect by throwing out a full-strength side,” Ingham pointed out. “They were up for it and the manager had been on at them all week because he thought we could cause an upset.”

With the ITV television cameras likely to be on standby for an upset at the Britannia Stadium, Ingham also knows that a strong performance might bring him back to the attention of Northern Ireland’s selectors having won the last of his three caps in 2007.

Ingham has fallen out of favour since Nigel Worthington became manager of the national team but, should he leave the post as is being speculated, then the City stopper would welcome the return of Lawrie Sanchez in the role, as is also being rumoured.

“Everybody knows I had my best times at international level with Lawrie Sanchez,” Ingham said. “He always spoke highly of me, but Nigel Worthington has never been to watch me play a game.

“I wish him all the best if he goes on to another job and, from a purely selfish point of view, it would be great if Lawrie becomes the manager again although we’ll have to see whether he would pick me when I’m playing at Blue Square Premier level. In my opinion, I am playing a better standard than the guy from the Irish League (Alan Mannus) and the Partick ’keeper (Jonathan Tuffey), who have been in the squad.

“They haven’t played at Wembley or with a crowd of 20,000 at Stoke either. There are 24 teams in League Two and I don’t believe there are many better than York City.