Speculation about his future didn’t faze Town striker Daryl Murphy — in fact it had him in stitches as a host of clubs were linked with big-money moves to lure him away from Portman Road.

Asked if there was ever a chance of him moving on, Murphy responded: “No. I was away all summer and I enjoyed my break.

“I didn’t listen too much to what was going on but because of the stories in the papers I was getting phone calls and texts from family and friends saying I was going here, there and everywhere.

“I’d heard nothing official at all and it was actually funny the amount of texts I received. I was laughing at the way people were reacting.

"I just came back when I was due to report back and the gaffer said ‘I’ve had a bit of interest but you’re not going anywhere’. I said ‘Fine’ and that was that.”

Middlesbrough were said to have had a bid close to £5 million rejected and even Norwich were mentioned in some reports as potential purchasers of the Republic of Ireland striker after his impressive record last season, his 27-goal tally making him the highest scorer in the Championship.

But Murphy never even thought about moving elsewhere and instead signed an extension to his contract — even though he was only too aware that it would be more difficult this season to secure his place in Mick McCarthy’s starting line-up.

He added: “Look at the players we brought in during the summer. I knew from the start of the season that I wasn’t going to be nailed on the team sheet as a regular, it’s as simple as that, because we’ve got so much competition for places now, especially with the strikers.

“The gaffer’s got a headache every week deciding who to play and I think he’s done it well by rotating us a bit. I know I need to start scoring to stay in the team because if I am putting them away hopefully it will mean we are picking up three points.

“It didn’t bother me when we signed Brett because I thought we were a bit short last season.

“With Didzy being injured it was only really me and Freddie. No disrespect to the other lads but we played most games last season when Didzy was injured so I think we needed that extra striker, someone experienced and a proven goalscorer, which Brett is. It’s great for competition and, as I said, it gives the gaffer a nice headache.”

But despite the additional firepower Town head for Blackburn this weekend two points worse off than at the same stage last season after a run of one win in six games in all competitions and just two points from a possible nine in their last three home fixtures.

Murphy finds Town’s form hard to explain, adding: “I can’t put my finger on it. We’ve been scoring a lot of goals but we’ve been conceding some as well, but I’m not blaming the defence for that. Defending starts from the front, like we all know, and the gaffer is working on it.

“We need to stop it and be more like we were last year, especially at home when we were hard to beat and usually won our home games.

“We need to get back to that and pick up results. In training the gaffer and TC will do something a bit different, maybe with the defenders or the strikers, but we’ve mixed it up a bit this week.

“We’ve been working on stuff to make us a tighter unit, working together as a team and obviously trying to avoid conceding.”

Photo: Action Images

RobbieBobson added 10:39 - Oct 2 Good to hear... being tight at the back takes the pressure off the strikers. They can then play with a bit more freedom knowing that they might only have to get a single goal to win all three points... as it stands now, we have to get 2/3 or even 5 goals to get any points and that is highly unlikely to happen each game. Keep it tight at the back, win your home games, and take a few more points away from home and bingo.... promised land.

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Steelmonkey added 16:24 - Oct 2 “We've been working on stuff to make us a tighter unit, working together as a team and obviously trying to avoid conceding.” In other words at any available opportunity hoof it into the opposition half. That's what happened against Bristol, at times we are so tactically inept. COYB's.
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