Midfielder Alan Judge will not feature again this season having been told the Blues will not be taking up the one-year extension on his deal which would have been triggered automatically had he played one more game.
"It’s not ideal for us or Alan because I would have liked to have had him available for us over the rest of the season,” boss Paul Cook told the club website.
"I told him we are not in a position to trigger that extension to his contract and because of the situation, we won't be considering him for the remaining games.”
The 32-year-old has made 29 league starts this season and a 30th would have seen the Blues have to offer a further year at Portman Road.
Rumours regarding Judge's exit began to circulate on the TWTD Forum earlier this evening.
In total, the Republic of Ireland international made 75 starts and 16 sub appearances for Town, scoring eight times, having signed for a nominal fee from Brentford in January 2019.
Judge is one of 27 Blues pros whose deals are up at the end of the season - seven youngsters have already been told they can go - with Cook expected to launch a major overhaul in the summer to the extent that most of the current squad will depart.