Town boss Mick McCarthy hopes a shorter summer break will help striker Daryl Murphy get back to the form he showed in 2014/15, when he topped scored in the Championship with 27 goals, after a stop-start 2015/16.
Murphy returned from the European Championships following the Republic of Ireland’s 2-1 round-of-16 defeat to hosts France on Sunday and has been given the first two weeks of pre-season off.
The 33-year-old, who started for Ireland in their final two matches at the tournament, was given three additional weeks off last summer having been away for international friendlies until mid-June.
But he subsequently made a slow start to the season - his first goals were his hat-trick in the 5-2 win at Rotherham on November 7th - and rarely hit the heights he had during the previous campaign, scoring only 10 times.
"Daryl’s back on the Tuesday after we come back from Ireland, July 12th,” McCarthy said. "He’ll be having just over two weeks off, so he doesn’t decondition. He’s not having that long off.
"I spoke to him on Monday and I’ll try and give him some kind of a rest in the season, some break, whether it’s days off.
"I’ve been through what he’s done. It seems a hundred years ago now but in 1988 when I played for Ireland in the European Championships I came back and went to Celtic.
"I had two weeks off and I was flying, but then in September someone pulled the plug out and I didn’t know what had happened to me. I don’t want that to happen to him.
"But last year he came back after the internationals, he had a three-week break, it took him a lot longer to get back and he ended up with an injury, so I think it’s important that he gets back as soon as he can and at least he’s available to start the season, which he wants to do.”
He added: "He needs to be fit, that’s the big thing with Murph. His season was stop-start last year. From coming back from international friendlies and having three weeks off and having to start pre-season late, missing it, missing the start of the season, it was a bit stop-start. That doesn’t help.
"So if he gets a run at it and he starts the season [that should help him to replicate his 2014/15 form].
"And we’ve got to create the chances for him, he can’t be doing it on his own. Let’s hope we do because he was brilliant.”
Meanwhile, former Blues striker Shefki Kuqi is reportedly close to being named the new manager of League One Oldham Athletic, where he played late on his career. The 39-year-old is currently boss and part-owner of Finnish side PK-35 Vantaa.