The loan move was rejected by Ipswich boss Jim Magilton who still sees his side in contention for a play off place and will not loan a player out to a rival club but would let the player go to QPR or Watford instead.
This led to a training ground bust up on Friday between player and manager. Irvine had to make do with the squad that he had for the game against Coventry but managed to pull three points out of the bag.