Goalkeeper Scott Loach has signed a two-year deal at newly-promoted Championship side Rotherham United after reaching a financial agreement with Ipswich Town to cancel the remaining year of his contract.

The Nottingham-born 26-year-old grew up an Ipswich Town fan, but his dream move to Portman Road didn’t work out the way he had hoped and he was transfer-listed by manager Mick McCarthy after making just 32 starts in two seasons.

“My time at the club is over but I just want to thank everyone for making me feel welcome here,” said Loach. “I’ve always had a great reception from the fans and I think the club is a credit to itself. The people at the club and the fans who support Ipswich all deserve a big future and I hope they get just that.”

Millers boss Steve Evans, whose side went up via a play-off win over Leyton Orient, said: “First of all I must say that Adam Collin has been magnificent since he grabbed the number one jersey last season, and it is fair to say that he has played a major part in where we are today.

“As I told Adam in the reviews at the end of the season that I have with each player, we’ll be bringing in some competition for him and that is exactly what we have done – Adam was excited and is looking forward to the challenge.

“Scott has made over 150 starts for Watford in the Championship so he has great experience at this level. He has played under the likes of the excellent Malky Mackay and Brendan Rodgers (at Watford) and they are two individuals who know a player when they see one.

“He has just turned 26 so he is at a good age; he has previously been called up to the England senior squad and has been capped repeatedly at Under-21 level. He has great stature, he kicks well, he has all the attributes that a top keeper needs and he fits in perfectly to what we are looking for.”

He continued: “Similar to Matt Derbyshire and Conor Newton we are signing a player who is still young, still has a point to prove and is hungry for success.

“He had a dream move to Ipswich, his boyhood club, for a sizeable undisclosed fee but it hasn’t quite worked out as he would have wished. We are delighted to sign Scott, like our other signings. He has a fantastic pedigree and he wants to help take this club and his career forward.

“I talked to him purely on football terms and the discussions were very straightforward. He wants to come in and grab the number one shirt and he is under no illusions to how tough that will be. Both our keepers will know that come August 9th I will pick the person that we genuinely believe deserves the shirt, there can be no other way.”

Evans also says that Loach had come highly-recommended, with goalkeeper coach Andy Dibble having watched him intently several times.

He said: “We knew that it was very unlikely we would have been able to get Scott Loach as a League One club. Now we are in the Championship it opens doors for the club to attract this calibre of player. We were very thorough in our selection, we spoke to several of his former goalkeeper coaches, Andy Dibble has seen him on a number of occasions and his reports we received were all very positive.

“I have said over the last three months or so that Adam Collin has been terrific but he has always had Scott Shearer breathing down his neck, so we are delighted to have increased that further competition.”