Striker Daryl Murphy felt that both the team and the fans deserved Saturday’s long-awaited first home league victory of the season as Burnley left Portman Road having been beaten 2-1. Murphy netted the first goal which the Clarets believed ought to have been ruled out for a foul on keeper Lee Grant.
Murphy said: "We have been waiting for that for a long time, especially at home. We deserved it, the fans deserved it and have done for a while now.
"Even when they came back to make it 1-1 there was a sense that we were not going to lose it.
"In recent games we have conceded late goals and lost games but we showed a lot of character this time to come back again and score to get a win. We are all starting to believe in ourselves a bit more and believe we can do it.”
The 29-year-old says he wasn’t aware that the winless run of 10 home league games stretched back more than seven months to March: "I didn’t realise it was that long. That was too long, but the evidence of this performance will give everyone a boost and we can build on that.
"We have six points from nine and we have to keep picking up points to get out of the bottom three.
"It is not a good place to be when you're down at the bottom, getting beat every week. We have tried new things, seen where we have gone wrong and looked at things in detail. Cutting out silly mistakes was the main thing, and we did that.”
Murphy, who says he prefers to play up front rather than in his other role wide on the left, thought his goal might not have counted on another day, but felt that referee Mark Brown was hasty when he blew his whistle after a similar incident in the first half: "Sometimes it is given, sometimes it is not.
"There was also one in the first half which was a ridiculous decision, when their own player knocked the ball out of the keeper’s hands but he penalised me. So, he has evened that one up and it worked out for us.”
The Irishman was pleased to see Town’s skipper back in the role he more usually occupied when they played alongside one another at the Stadium of Light: "I played with Carlos at Sunderland and he played right wing ever week and as a left-back the last thing you want is seeing Carlos coming at you.”
Murphy says new manager Mick McCarthy has given everyone at Portman Road a boost since he took charge three games and two wins ago: "He has given everyone a lift. That happens when any new manager comes in, so he has been brilliant since he has come in.
"He is a disciplinarian, a no-nonsense guy but you can have a laugh and joke with him at the right time.
"But when you are bottom of the league you can’t be laughing and joking. You have to get you head down and work hard to get results.
"He brought me over from Waterford to Sunderland. I really enjoyed working with him there and thankfully I have a chance to work with him again.
"It was nice that he got the job because I know him, I know what he wants and that is a bonus for me.”