Fleetwood Town have ruled out a loan move for QPR midfielder Joey Barton.

Fleetwood boss Micky Mellon has ended his interest in the midfielder, who was also stripped of QPR's captaincy and fined six weeks' wages as a result of his behaviour against City, after being told Barton would not play in League Two.

"Joey has gone back to QPR," Mellon told Sky Sports. "His influence in and around the football club was nothing more than fantastic.

"(He was) a great lad, up to standard for us, players saw how hard you have to work to be a Premier League footballer.

"Nothing but positives came from the time we had with Joey. We always knew it was going to come to an end at some stage.

"We did try and get him on loan. QPR did not want to do that. He has gone back to QPR and we wish Joey all the best. He will always be a friend of this football club."