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Bart: Strike Pair Championship's Best - Ipswich Town News

Goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski has echoed boss Mick McCarthy's recent claim that Town possess the Championship’s best strike partnership in Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick.

Murphy’s double in the 2-1 midweek home win over Wolves took his tally for the season to 10, including six in his last five, while McGoldrick has weighed in with a further five.

Given that Murphy’s 13-goal haul last season was a career best-ever total, he is on schedule to rewrite the record books, but it is the quality of his goals that has led the Republic of Ireland international to recently confess that he has never played better.

Bialkowski said: "I have looked at all the strikers in the Championship and I cannot find a better pair than Murph and Didz. Believe me, apart from their records this season, I also have to face them in training so I know just how good they are, both individually and together.

"Look at Murph’s display the other night against Wolves when he scored two terrific goals. He is a great finisher and fully deserved them. Him and Didzy up front, they are showing they are the very best around at this level.

"I have known Didzy for some time. We were at Southampton together so I have always known what he is all about. He is also a great finisher and the thing about them both is that they cover a lot of ground working hard for the team.”

That point was amply illustrated against Wolves on Tuesday when Murphy’s 14th minute pass went astray and he immediately raced back from the halfway line to put in a saving tackle just as Bakary Sako must have thought he was going to fire Wolves ahead.

Bialkowski also believes that having the in-form duo as colleagues is benefiting him and the other goalkeepers at Portman Road in a number of ways, adding: "They are full of confidence now and it can only be good for them and the team. We know at the back that even if we do go behind we have someone up front who can score a goal in every game.

"The other bonus is that we are training alongside the very best in Murph and Didz so it is good for me and the other keepers. It is good for us to be facing them every day in training because it tests us to the max and it helps to make us better.”

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