Cambridge United have brought in goalkeeper Jack Walton from Preston North End on a short-term emergency loan.
Their main keeper Jake Eastwood is banned for Wednesday’s match against League Two leaders Bromley after getting sent off in their 4-0 win over Notts County for handling the ball outside his box.
Ben Hughes came on to make his league debut as Eastwood’s replacement, having only played four Vertu Trophy games before.
“Jake being sent off wasn’t ideal for anybody, but in the heat of the moment these things happen, we understand that, especially at this stage of the season when emotions are high and you have to make marginal decisions on the spot,” boss Neil Harris told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
“Ben came on and was outstanding, but to ask him to go again in such a pivotal game would have been a really big ask and a huge gamble, so we decided to go down the route of seeing what options were available to us.”
Walton, who’s 27, has appeared five times for Preston this season since joining last summer but hasn’t played since January.
He started out at Barnsley and had more than 70 games with Dundee United during a two-year loan spell up in Scotland.
“We have some excellent references on him and the lad was so excited and desperate to come and play, and he’s got the character and the mindset to do it, which is a strong starting point,” said Harris.
Right now Cambridge sit third with just four games left as they aim to bounce straight back up to League One after last season’s drop.
