Town striker David McGoldrick has insisted he is not in competition with partner Daryl Murphy in the scoring stakes, his only aim being to do everything within his power to earn the club promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season.
McGoldrick, whose double act with Murphy has often been touted as the most effective in the Championship, paid tribute to his fellow Republic of Ireland international when he said: "We have 15 between us so far and Murph’s on 10. Before I came here I’m told he played a lot of games out on the left but for the past 18 months or so he’s been right up top.
"When I got injured last season he was the main man and the way he’s playing now he should be getting more of the plaudits. What is it, 10 goals in 16 games and top of the Championship scoring charts?
"He’s good to work with, he wins a lot of headers and he always works hard. He’s 31 but he does his shift out there. I’ve got a lot of time for him, both as a person and a player.
"I’ve got no real competition with Murph. He’s on fire at the moment, has probably been our best player so far this season and as for some of his goals, every time he goes through I think he’s going to score.
"If he scores 20-odd and I assist him but don’t score anywhere near as many, I’ll still be happy. I like Daryl as a lad — he’s a good mate of mine — and I’m cool with it.
"Confidence is a big thing to any striker. You only have to look at Murph because he’s full of it. When he’s shooting he’s not just hoping to land a shot on target, he’s shooting to stick the ball in the back of the net.
"Sometimes as a striker you can just go out there and feel your way through the game. The ball is passed to you and you don’t know what you are going to do. You have to think about it. But when you are full of confidence things tend to happen naturally.
"When I get the ball I don’t think about what I’m going to do — should I do this or that — it just happens. It’s like that when you are at the top of your game and I’ve felt like that for the past 18 months to two years.”
Fourth-placed Town resume their promotion challenge on Saturday at Bournemouth, where McGoldrick spent three months on loan at the end of the 2006/07 season, scoring six goals in 12 games.
Victory against the Cherries, who are two places and one point better off than the Blues, would make it four wins on the trot for Mick McCarthy’s team, who have lost just one of their last 13 league games.
But McGoldrick warned: "They’re a good team and I like them. I fancy them this season. They have good creative players in the team, plus good strikers and defenders, and I think they will be up there near the end. It will be a tough test for us but we’re no mugs and we can go there and get something.
"Since I’ve returned from international duty I can see the boys are really looking forward to it. They are fresh and fit so hopefully we can go down there and show the fans what we can do and not let ourselves down.”
Meanwhile, the striker revealed that he received a warm welcome back to training by McCarthy, a former Republic of Ireland player and manager delighted that yet another of his players had been called up to represent the Emerald Isle.
McGoldrick said: "He gave me a big hug on Thursday morning and TC as well. Everyone’s been great with me since I got back. Mick is passionate about Ireland but he’s passionate about everything.
"He was pleased for me when all the paperwork was finally sorted out and he sent me a text before the game against the USA to wish me luck. When I saw him at training he was really happy for me and it was a nice feeling.”