Town boss Mick McCarthy was pleased to get pre-season off to a winning start as goals from Paul Anderson, Darren McQueen, Tyrone Mings and Jack Marriott saw the Blues to a 4-0 victory at Shelbourne.

“It’s nice to keep a clean sheet and nice for the lads who score the goals, they get off the mark,” he said. “But we should beat them. [Pre-season games] don’t really matter, but I prefer to win them than lose them.”

He says he and the squad had an excellent week training at the Carton House hotel in Co Kildare: “Fabulous, it’s a great facility, I’ve been using it for five or six years, I’m sure I was there with Sunderland, and then Wolves and now with Ipswich.

“The hotel is great, the training facilities, the gym, the food, the staff, it’s a just a great place to spend the week and the lads love it, so it gets us all off to a good start.”

David McGoldrick missed the week in Ireland but McCarthy is happy with the way his striker's return is going: “David McGoldrick was in America for his strengthening and he’s continuing that. I’m hoping he’ll be out with the balls next week. He’s progressing, he’s doing OK.”

Daryl Murphy and Stephen Hunt watched the game from the stands with what their manager says are minor problems.

“Both little niggles, calf strains,” he added. “It wasn’t worth risking them in this game. We’ll get them back and they’ll be all right for next week.”

Photo: Action Images

dude added 20:06 - Jul 12 C'mon didz, out with the balls.
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BlueLight added 11:23 - Jul 13 Mick seems really relaxed and confident going into the new season. I have a really good feeling about it.
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