Town have completed the signing of Preston North End attacking midfielder Josh Harrop on loan until the end of the season.

Harrop, who will wear the number 33 shirt, trained with his new team-mates this morning then completed the remaining paperwork relating to his switch.

TWTD revealed on Monday morning that Harrop was set to travel to Portman Road to finalise his switch, however, the move has been delayed following a thorough medical as the Blues scrutinised any issues relating to the cruciate knee ligament damage the former Manchester United trainee suffered in October 2018, and also due to the additional red tape created by the League One salary cap.

The deal has been confirmed subject to salary cap ratification by the EFL with the Blues close to the £2.5 million limit.

At 25, Harrop counts as a senior player in terms of the cap, which was introduced last summer, unlike 21-year-old Luke Thomas who signed on loan from Barnsley yesterday, with the club limited to a squad of 22 players aged over 21.

Harrop, who prefers to play as a number 10 but also operates wide on the left, joined Preston in June 2017 having come through the youth system at Old Trafford, where he made one Premier League start in a 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace on the final day of 2016/17 and scored the opening goal.

Born in Stockport, Harrop, who was the player assistant boss Stuart Taylor said the Blues were hoping to sign prior to the Swindon match, has made 39 starts and 55 sub appearances for Preston, scoring 13 times including a number of free-kicks.

However, this season 5ft 9in tall Harrop has made only four starts, one in the Championship, and four appearances from the bench, scoring once. He was left out of the 20-man squad which lost 2-0 at Bristol City at the weekend.

Capped three times by England’s U20s, Harrop signed a new contract at Deepdale in August which runs to 2023.

Photos: ITFC

BettyBlue added 15:25 - Jan 20 Couldn't we sign anyone smaller and with more injuries?
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rgp1 added 16:48 - Jan 20 I know things haven't been good of late but can we at least refrain from making the pitch look yellow and green!
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MonkeyAlan added 16:51 - Jan 20 Another man mountain to add to the squad then. We really do need some brutes over 6ft. We are so lightweight. And another midfielder. We have a team of them. Evans you muppet.
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Linkboy13 added 17:15 - Jan 20 Yes agree Monkey Alan too many lightweights in our team need some steel and aggression in midfield if we are going to beat the likes of Peterborough but that's not the Ipswich way is it still dreaming of the nineteen eighties.
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itsonlyme added 17:20 - Jan 20 According to the bbc website, to comply with salary cap someone has to be shipped out. I wonder who? Not PL I'm afraid!
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norfolkbluey added 17:21 - Jan 20 Lets all hope that Edwards can still play a role and that these new players are able to play in their preferred roles not stuck in some Lambert's scheme out of position. Surely PL won't do that, will he?
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happybeingblue added 17:44 - Jan 20 thats 4 loan signings in and around the starting 11,i can remember when that idea was squashed by lambert and we believed he was going to coach and improve our existing players! what happened?i think we know now we were schmoozed, i cannot think of 1 player that has improved under our current regime? anyone?
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ringwoodblue added 17:47 - Jan 20 Welcome Josh and Luke. Please give 110%, stay fit, terrorise defences and get the ball into the box for Norwood or whoever to score.
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Razor added 18:18 - Jan 20 Now ship Freddie and Jackson out and get a couple of young hungry forwards and job done!!
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jakeyboy26 added 18:34 - Jan 20 Previous long-term injury problems...where have I heard that one before?
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heathen66 added 18:57 - Jan 20 Welcome to ITFC If we can play Edwards and Thomas Wide, Jackson and Norwood up top with Harrop in the No.10 then we may be going somewhere. We do not need to play defensive midfielders in L1 Lets go out and try and win games and take the opposition on. Not sit back and hope something happens after 60 mins. With players coming back and two new signings things are looking promising...Over to you Lambert...earn your money !!!

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Texastom added 19:02 - Jan 20 happybeingblue: Agree, was going to say 'Lambert was waiting for the squad of key players to return and we would be fine'. Obviously not then. Won't do the others confidence any good or give them a chance to prove it. Did say a while back our squad is average at best. Fingers crossed these players are successful! Good luck.
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Skip73 added 19:53 - Jan 20 Out of all the midfielders at the club, who has actually proved they are good enough over a period of time? New faces are needed.
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DerryfromBury added 20:16 - Jan 20 Happy with this signing, could be just what we need to turn things around. If it does the trick, not to bothered its another loanee. Having said that, loans are probably the way foreword now not only for ITFC but for so many clubs going forward.
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BcarefulwhatUWish4 added 22:06 - Jan 20 Don't understand the amount of negativity. We create so few chances every game that our strikers have little opportunity to score. Both these signings are creative players who could give our strikers opportunities. Doesn't solve all our issues but does address one glaring problem.
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KenHancocksBoot added 22:07 - Jan 20 On the face of it these are excellent signings. The only question to ask is "Are they better than what we have?" Robson and Barley built their teams by replacing individual players with better ones. Who knows, our youngsters might learn something from them.
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shakytown added 23:04 - Jan 20 Now Lamberts tactics need to change. We need to move the ball faster up the pitch and not play deep in our own half. This will make things easier for our defense who are just not able to play the slow buildup passing game.
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BettyBlue added 09:01 - Jan 21 Amazing that ITFC fans can't realise when they're being "mugged off".
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ringwoodblue added 09:27 - Jan 21 We still don't know what senior player is going to leave to balance the books on the salary cap but whoever that is, I can't see Lambo changing tactics or formations for anyone
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BettyBlue added 09:33 - Jan 21 Skuse to retire.
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