Daryl Murphy has admitted that he never believed he would repeat last season’s amazing achievement of scoring 27 league goals to become the Championship’s leading marksman.
Murphy’s sizzling form in front of goal fired Town to the play-offs but it has been a vastly different story in the current campaign, with a meagre eight goals to his credit and the team struggling to maintain the promotion pace.
Speaking about his own form, he admitted: "I think it’s been up and down. I never thought for one minute that I would repeat what I did last season but you obviously want to set yourself goals and targets.
"I haven’t scored as many as I would have liked but there are still a few games left to play.
"There has probably been a bit more pressure on me this season but I don’t mind the pressure part because that comes as part and parcel really.
"I know myself that at this stage of the season I should have scored a lot more goals than I have done. That’s something I need to work on as well in training and hopefully I’ll get it right.
"I look back on a few games, ones that stick out in particular. I know I should have had a hat-trick at MK Dons, for example, because I had three really good chances to score.
"Last year they probably would have gone in but you can’t get too down about it because, as I said, I never thought I was going to score another 27 goals this season. I just need to be realistic and hopefully start scoring very soon.”
Murphy, 32, admitted experience prevents him from allowing the disappointment of not scoring as regularly to become too great a burden.
He added: "There’s no point in getting down because I’ve been through it all before and in the past I might have been kicking myself and worrying about it too much. I need to make sure my performances are right and the goals will come.
"The manager has kept faith in me and I am very grateful for that. The gaffer knows that on my day I can be a handful for any defence so when I play I need to show that in order to repay the faith he has shown in me.”
Murphy is in line to make his 200th career start for the Blues at Huddersfield but conceded there have been occasions this term when he feared the axe and being named in boss Mick McCarthy’s starting line-up came as a pleasant surprise.
He added: "Maybe I have felt that I didn’t deserve to play but the gaffer has given me the nod.
"It’s up to me to show a bit more than I have done. Confidence is an issue for any player. If you are scoring goals you are flying and you always believe that you are going to score.
"When it’s not going well for you it’s not nice but I’ve still been getting chances and that’s the main thing. I think if I wasn’t getting chances in games, that’s when I would be worried.”
Murphy failed to find the net in his first 14 appearances for Town this season before getting off the mark in spectacular fashion with a hat-trick in the 5-2 win at Rotherham in November and he is currently without a goal in his last five outings.
He said: "I just need to get that first goal again and hopefully it will happen at Huddersfield if I’m selected.
"The rest of the lads are fine with me but they are obviously down about our recent results. We’re a tight squad and we all look out for each other. We know we have to up our performances if we want to finish in the top six.”