Striker Daryl Murphy says playing for the Republic of Ireland at the European Championships in France this summer was the highlight of his career.
The 33-year-old was an unused sub in Ireland’s opening two group games but then started both the 1-0 victory over Italy and the 2-1 defeat to the hosts in the round of 16, taking his total of international caps to 23, although still without scoring.
"I didn’t know I was playing in the Italy game until an hour before kick-off. The manager likes to keep his cards close to his chest,” the Waterford-born striker told the club site.
"Being part of that game, knowing what was at stake and that we had to win was special. It was a fantastic occasion, a fantastic night and something I will always remember.
"Obviously the France game was massive as well and the whole experience of taking part in one of the biggest events in sport was something else. It’s definitely the highlight of my career.”
Murphy went almost six years without winning a cap before Martin O’Neill recalled him in February 2014.
"I was thankful the manager gave me my chance because I had been out of the international team for a long while and I thought my time was up before he called me up to the squad a couple of years ago,” the Town number nine added.
#itfc's Daryl Murphy reflects on 'creating a bit of history' following his involvement with Ireland at #Euro2016https://t.co/tTnAyPUzj6
— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) July 13, 2016
"I want to keep going as long as I can now. We’ve got the World Cup qualifiers coming up and hopefully I will be involved. I will never turn my back on my country. When they don’t want me any more, that will be the end.
"I think I handled myself OK out there. You want to test yourself against the best and I certainly did that in the Euros. Hopefully I can take that on now for Ipswich through the season.”
Murphy joined his team-mates for pre-season training today having been given an additional two weeks off after the Euros.