Blues striker Daryl Murphy ended his domestic goal drought at the weekend by scoring a hat-trick as the Blues won 5-2 at Rotherham now he wants to bring his long wait for an international goal to a close when the Republic of Ireland take on Bosnia-Herzegovina in their two-legged Euro 2016 play-off.
The 32-year-old looks set to start for Martin O’Neill’s side with Ireland’s options up front limited by injuries to Shane Long and Murphy’s Town team-mate David McGoldrick, while ex-Blues skipper Jon Walters is suspended for the first leg, which takes place in Zenica on Friday (Sky Sports One, 7pm).
Speaking to the Irish media at training at Abbotstown yesterday Murphy, last season’s 27-goal Championship top scorer, reflected on his first hat-trick in 11 years which saw him back in the goals after a wait of 13 starts and three sub appearances for Town and three starts for Ireland.
"It was nice, wasn’t it? And it was about time,” he said. "I just felt back to myself the last couple of weeks, fitness-wise and sharpness-wise.
"When you’re not getting chances, that’s when you have to worry. I was getting chances and it wasn’t really affecting me.
"I knew I didn't want to come in without having scored for the club, that's one sure thing. Getting the hat-trick has given me a boost.
"But maybe I wanted to score too much, snatching at things whereas usually it comes naturally to you. I was maybe trying a bit too hard.
"I was still working away on the training ground and finishing, but it’s different to games. You have a split second to make a decision, pick the wrong choice and you mightn’t score. But on Saturday I was happy with my finishing.”
Murphy has now been capped 17 times by Ireland - his won his first in a friendly with Ecuador in New York in May 2007 - but is still to score his first international goal.
"I said to my Dad [Peter] a while ago, 'I've still not scored for my country, I've had a few chances, I should have scored’,” the striker added.
"And he was like, 'Maybe you're waiting for a big game. Maybe it will be a goal that really matters’.
"And that's the way you have to think really, if involved or whatever, if I get a chance, I've got to take it.
"It would be nice. I don't want to look back not having scored for my country. With a few appearances, you want to look back and say, 'Yeah I've scored for my country but it was a big goal for my country as well'.
The former Waterford United, Sunderland and Celtic man says a draw would be a good result from Friday’s first leg with the second game in Dublin on Monday (Sky Sports One, 7pm).
"It's going to be tough, we know that,” he continued. "It's going to be a bit of a hostile atmosphere over there.
"We've to forget about all that and focus on what we need to do. We need a positive result coming back from Bosnia for the second game. We'll obviously want a draw at least. That would be good to bring back home.”
Murphy was out of the international picture for almost six years until he was recalled by O’Neill in February 2014, the Irish boss having been impressed by his performances for Town.
The Blues striker has previously attributed his success over the last couple of seasons to being settled at Portman Road and as a result says he was never going anywhere in the summer, despite plenty of speculation.
"From day one, the manager [Mick McCarthy] has been brilliant with me, played me as a striker, had faith in me, looked after me. I don’t think there was any point in moving on,” he said.
"He offered me a new contract so it was a no-brainer really. I’m settled, I’m happy and at an age now where I don’t want to be moving around when the kids are settled. It all made sense to stay.”
Also currently away on international duty are Tommy Oar with Australia, Ainsley Maitland-Niles with England’s U19s, Josh Yorwerth and Michael Crowe with the Welsh U21s and Dylan Connolly with the Irish U21s. More details on their fixtures here.
Republic of Ireland: David Forde (Millwall), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Darren Randolph (West Ham), Rob Elliot (Newcastle), Richard Keogh (Derby), Marc Wilson (Stoke), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Cyrus Christie (Derby), John O’Shea (Sunderland), Alex Pearce (Derby), Shane Duffy (Blackburn), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Paul McShane (Reading), Stephen Ward (Burnley), Robbie Brady (Norwich), James McCarthy (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Derby), Darron Gibson (Everton), Harry Arter (Bournemouth), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Aiden McGeady (Everton), James McClean (West Brom), Alan Judge (Brentford), David Meyler (Hull), Jonathan Walters (Stoke), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich), Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids).