Defender Josh Earl’s loan with the Blues from Preston has been ended with football still suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 21-year-old joined Town in January for a spell which was due to run to the end of the season, which would have been yesterday when the Blues were scheduled to face the MK Dons at Portman Road.

“We all agreed that it was the sensible thing to do given the circumstances,” Town’s general manager football operations Lee O’Neill told the club site.

“We could have extended Josh’s loan but there is so much uncertainty going on at the moment around when games might be played again that it wasn’t really a viable option.

Really enjoyed my short time @IpswichTown and its a shame the season has planned out like this. Thanks to all the fans for their support! Looking forward to getting back to @pnefc when football resumes!👊🏼

— Josh Earl (@JoshEarl32) May 4, 2020

“We’d like to thank Josh for his contribution to the team and to the club in his time with us and wish him all the best for the future.”

Earl, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Bolton, made five starts and two sub appearances for the Blues.

The loans of Luke Garbutt from Everton and Will Norris from Wolves run to June 30th.

Photo: TWTD

Ipswichbusiness added 15:02 - May 4 Back in January it probably made sense to have a look at him, but given the need to cut expenditure this was inevitable. It is a matter of time before the other loanees go as well.
2

ITFCsince73 added 15:07 - May 4 I don't think Garbutts will be ended early. To much money involved. With us paying a big percentage of his rumoured 30k per week wages. Which we'll have to keep paying till end of June.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 16:48 - May 4 He was worth the punt, but didn't look any better than what we have got.
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JDAndCoke added 17:01 - May 4 Looked pretty tidy on the ball and a fairly solid defender. Difficult to form a proper judgement given the amount he played. All the best Josh
3

Linkboy13 added 17:52 - May 4 Thought he looked half decent and was getting better and more confident the more he played. Definitely better than Kenlock who was far too easily out muscled and knocked off the ball. Plus he had a big physical presence which the team lacks and don't forget he was injured most of the time. I would have taken him on for a freemans.
1

Pecker added 19:02 - May 4 Saved a few quid. Bang average.
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Linkboy13 added 19:12 - May 4 Bang average is better than the crap we've got at the moment.
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COYB11 added 21:12 - May 4 Can see why we signed him as he was physically strong, good on the ball and could get up and down the left hand side pretty well. Having said that, no need to keep him on given the uncertainty at the moment. Good luck Josh!
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bimboslice added 21:22 - May 4 Earl looked tidy against Burton Albion but in some of the other games he didn't look as assured.
1

BluePayne added 02:48 - May 5 Keen young player who looked competitive going forward and defending. Wouldn't be a bad signing in my opinion.🔵⚪️COYB🔵⚪️
1

budgieplucker added 07:23 - May 5 A promising young player, as said above gave us good physical presence and tidy player who looked good at left back as well as in the centre. Would consider signing if we had a significant offer for Woolfie that we couldn't refuse but think Preston probably rate this lad very highly and knowing we had cashed in are likely to want too much for him. I suspect all loan signings were until May 3rd but extendable for play offs. As much as I think Garbutt has for part of the season been a revelation and without current circumstances would like to see him as a proper Town player I think realistically he and Norris should be released back to their parent clubs now and if we get chance to finish the season then we should do so with our own players. Our squad will need thinning, all other clubs at this level will have to shed players as well if they are to survive. Realistically we know we will be playing at this level when a new season dawns, our strength should be our young players making up our squad and we should be able to more than compete for the best out of contract players at this level to plug the gaps.

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Linkboy13 added 19:28 - May 5 It's hard to think of many players who are worth keeping ,and our young players are not as good as we think they are Dobra apart. A major rebuild is required which could take two or three seasons. The present players at the club are the ones who got us in this mess, doesn't take a rocket scientist to work it out does it.
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