Daryl Murphy believes there are a number of reasons why he is currently at his most prolific in more than 10 years as a professional in England.

He cites a number of factors, including off-the-field fulfilment and the encouragement of both manager Mick McCarthy and assistant Terry Connor, and believes the success he is enjoying could be proving a lot of people wrong.

Father-of-two Murphy, who had three separate loan spells with Town before signing a permanent deal in the summer of 2013, said: “The family being settled here is a big thing.

“It obviously helps when you know that you are going to be here for the next however many years and that you’re not going to be moving around, dragging the wife and children with you.

“That’s not nice and it definitely helps to be settled in Ipswich and also knowing the manager before. He showed faith in me when he brought me over from Ireland and signed me for Sunderland.

“All that helps, plus being handed the number nine shirt was a big thing for me. It’s a big number that comes with a bit of responsibility — you need to score goals and thankfully I’ve done that.

“I’ll admit I’m not really aware of all the number nines that Ipswich have had down the years. But it’s a big number at any club though and if you wear it you have to score goals and create chances, stuff like that.

“When the gaffer gave me that number, straight away I was thinking it meant I would be playing most of the time. I wasn’t taking it for granted but it’s not very often that you see a number nine sitting on the bench, is it? Getting that shirt boosted my confidence straight away.

“The sessions that TC puts on for the strikers have also made a big difference and I firmly believe that if I had trained with TC and done sessions like that when I first came over to England I would probably be a better player than I am now.

“It’s only been in the last two years that I’ve been working with him but he’s done wonders for me and my finishing. It’s not just kicking the ball to him, getting it back and shooting, like most clubs do. There’s a lot more to it than that.

“A lot more thought goes into the runs that you make. A lot of my goals this season have come as a result of making runs across defenders and getting into the box, which is what he has been teaching us. I can’t praise him enough really.”

Murphy isn’t naming names but agrees that his current form, which has earned him a recall to the Republic of Ireland squad, is probably taking a lot of people he has worked with in the past by surprise.

He added: “I hope I am proving people wrong. I don’t like negative talk or anything like that because I don’t really listen to it but I always knew that I could score goals, given the chance. If I was in a team that was creating chances and I was playing as a striker I thought I would score.

“I did it as a striker when I was growing up and throughout my career as a young lad I always found the back of the net. So I knew it was in there but it’s only been in the last few years that it’s started to show.”

Photo: Action Images

blueblood66 added 11:22 - Feb 13 Mariner was my childhood hero, and in Murph we have a player who is reminding me of big Paul.
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dukey44 added 16:53 - Feb 13 Blueblood mariner was and still is my greatest footballing hero. Been a long time coming for someone to replace him at Town and Murphy has certainly laid claim to that now.
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rfretwell added 21:25 - Feb 13 Real shame Murph isnt a few years younger and playing so well - he would be worth a fortune. Mariner was superb of course and had that air of arrogance borne from great confidence in his ability. Murphy needs to look up our great strikers - they did it in the top division
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