Town manager Paul Hurst says he’d ideally like three loanees following the deadline day exit of striker Joe Garner but will only be able to sign two due to Janoi Donacien currently being classed as a loan player.
Garner moved to Wigan for a fee of £1.25 million in the final minutes of the transfer window.
"I think in the end Joe’s personal situation wasn’t the easiest, I’ll not go into too many details with regards to that, nothing that’s going to hit the front pages or anything like that, but it wasn’t ideal for him being at Ipswich Town,” Hurst said regarding the reasons for Garner wanting to move back to the North-West.
"Still, as a football club, we’ve got to try and look after ourselves as well, he’d clearly signed a contract, but I think moving forward it was the best decision for us.
"Certainly no hard feelings between myself and Joe or anything like that, just personal circumstances.
"That perhaps allows us now moving forward to try and look at the loan market but we’ve only got a couple of loans to use realistically and we’ve got to use them well.”
Another striker is now on Hurst’s wish-list in addition to a central defender and a third player for an unspecified position.
However, with Donacien awaiting the extension to his permanent leave to remain in the UK before his £750,000 switch from Accrington is confirmed as a permanent deal, he is currently only looking at two loanees with teams only allowed to name five in a matchday squad.
"Unfortunately because of Janoi’s situation we’ve had to take him on loan and that’s the rules so it is what it is I suppose,” he reflected.
"But it’s very odd when you’ve had someone that’s been in the country for so long [since 2001], has played football and has moved up a level. Clearly he’s contributing to society if you like. And we’ve got to wait on him to find out whether he can stay in the country.
"I think we need three players in and we’ve only got two loans to use. I’ve got to make the decision of what’s crucial for us and to help the squad overall.”
Town can sign more than five but someone would have to sit out each week, a position Hurst says isn’t ideal.
"I’ve been in that situation once and I didn’t like it,” he said. "At times we were leaving a player out, one in particular at a previous club, who didn’t deserve to be left out.
"And it’s hard as through the week he knows he’s going to be the one to miss out. That’s not really fair. I’ll do whatever I need to do, don’t get me wrong, but I think it’s a bit of a waste.
"Unless something happens and we have an injury somewhere else and it’s crucial to fill a position, I’ll try and do what we can to just use the two.”