The following year, Dundee were unable to repeat their top four finishes and fell to seventh place before undertaking a tour of Spain at the end of the campaign. Irving missed the opening of the 1923–24 season due to injury. He returned to the first team in September but suffered further injury problems after playing for Ireland against England in October that saw him rarely feature in the following months. He returned to the first team in late February 1924 against Third Lanark. However, Irving continued to be plagued by knee problems; he was stretchered off in matches against both St Mirren on 30 March and Clydebank on 19 April. Representatives from Burnley had travelled to watch Irving play in the latter match, the final game of the season, and were informed that the recurring problem would require surgery to remove a piece of loose cartilage from the knee to rectify the problem.