were to be Luton's opponents in the Second Round of the FA Cup. December and January Goalkeeper Cédric Berthelin was offered a contract until the end of the season in late November. However, Joe Kinnear was later informed that, unless he trimmed his squad down, there would be no funds available to sign Berthelin or any other players. Kinnear admitted he was shocked at the sudden lack of money, which was partly due to the collapse of former Football League broadcaster ITV Digital, but made it clear that no players would be sold. This promise was affirmed later that day, with top scorer Steve Howard signing a two-year contract extension. Berthelin signed for First Division side Crystal Palace later that month. A severely depleted Luton side was knocked out of the FA Cup on 7 December by Wigan and then, three days later, Cambridge United beat Luton 2–1 in extra time in the Football League Trophy. In the league, Luton recorded a loss, a draw and two wins to end December in sixth place in the table. A loss to Chesterfield on New Year's Day turned out to be Luton's last game for almost three weeks due to poor weather. On 17 January, Kinnear revealed he had turned down the offer of an interview for the job of Irish national team manager. The next day, Luton beat Barnsley 3–2, despite being a goal down and having goalkeeper Carl Emberson sent off in the first half. A victory over Wycombe Wanderers a week later left Luton just outside the play-offs, though with games in hand over the teams above them. Defender Chris Willmott, who started his career at Luton, joined the club on an initial month's loan from Wimbledon to ease a defensive injury crisis. Meanwhile, developments off the pitch regarding a new stadium continued. Chairman Mike Watson-Challis revealed that he had bought a piece of land off of Junction 10 of the M1 motorway close to Luton Airport. He estimated the cost of building a 15,000 seater stadium and complex to be £15 million, though admitted there "may be other costs". The meeting where Watson-Challis revealed these details also referenced potential hindrances to the developments – the removal of electricity pylons sitting on the land, the plans to widen the M1 at the same location as the stadium was to be built, and the vital fact that the development was