Daryl Murphy has helped the Republic of Ireland qualify for next summer’s European Championships — now his mission is to ensure he doesn’t lose his place in the squad between now and then.
And the 32-year-old from Waterford is quick to acknowledge that his best bet of making the final cut is to be in tip-top form at club level.
Murphy said: "I have to make sure I’m in the squad next summer. There’s only one way that will happen — by playing and doing well for Ipswich.
"We need to have a good season, simple as that, because only 23 players can go to France. It’s a big challenge for me to make sure I get into that squad and the only way I’m going to do it is if I’m playing regularly and scoring goals.
"This is probably the last chance in my career to play in something so big. Some players go through their entire careers without playing in any major tournaments but I’ve got my chance and I’ll do everything I can to get there.”
Helping his country to reach the final stages of a ‘major’ is a dream come true for Murphy, who remembered how cheering on the team moulded by Jack Charlton was a major childhood highlight.
He added: "I would always watch the games when I was younger. We used to go to the pubs to watch the games — not drinking, obviously, but going to the pub to watch is what everyone does. Me and my mates would all dress up. It brings back great memories.
"At the last Euros Ireland were at I wasn’t involved but I went home and was down the pub with all my mates, watching the games on television and cheering them on. It would be nice if I was actually there myself next summer.”
Just as Town boss Mick McCarthy kept faith in Murphy when he was going through a lean spell this season, Republic manager Martin O’Neill also stayed loyal as Murphy started three big games — the qualifying win over world champions Germany and the play-off double header against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Murphy confessed: "I really didn’t expect to start in any of those games and it was quite a shock to me when I heard I had been picked for them all. But it just goes to show that the gaffer had faith in me and thankfully we got the results that we needed.”
This week’s defeat of Bosnia-Herzegovina triggered one of the biggest parties in Irish football history and Murphy laughed: "Monday was nice! It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
"At my age it is great to be involved in something like that and to go through to the Euros.
"It meant so much to get through in Dublin the other night because our fans have been so brilliant from start to finish. They’ve travelled everywhere to support us and it was nice to do it for them.
"I celebrated with a couple of beers and just relaxed after that. I had my family and friends there as well so it was just a chill.”