Boss Roy Keane says Daryl Murphy's loan move to Portman Road has given the Sunderland striker a new lease of life. Murphy scored his fourth and fifth goals for the Blues during the 2-0 victory over Cardiff City.

Keane said: "We've given him a new lease of life and he could be in double figures already. I spoke to him in the summer about joining and he probably regrets that that didn't happen.

"He's come in and had a run of games and his biggest strength is definitely playing through the middle.

"He's getting chances in every game and I was pleased with his goals tonight. They were poacher's goals, particularly the second one.

"We haven't scored anywhere near enough like that this season and need more. We try to score so many wonder goals after 15 or 16 passes."

The Blues boss wasn’t getting too carried away by the victory: "I'm still grumpy. We know what the players are capable of and they haven't done it enough this season.

"We scored two, their keeper made two particularly good saves and I thought we played not bad.

"We kept it well, stretched them when we had to, created chances and the players looked like they enjoyed it. In terms of keeping the ball, our tackling and our shape, the tempo was decent."

Keane was impressed with Shane O’Connor’s home debut: "Shane O'Connor can be pleased with his performance. He gave the fans a lift with his energy and keeping a clean sheet is a positive for the back four.

"Cardiff are a good side but apart from Michael Chopra's chance in the first half, they had to make do with shots from distance.

"It was a good win for us and a good reaction from the defeat at Blackpool but we need to follow it up against Scunthorpe on Saturday."

Cardiff’s assistant boss Terry Burton admitted his side were poor: "Ipswich were by far the better team. They played better on the night and 2-0 flattered us.

"Everyone uses it as an excuse but we've got a lot of injuries, including players who would normally be in our starting 11.

"We never got going, though. We were second best in every area and there was so much wrong that Dave Jones could be talking to the players until midnight.

"We can still make the play-offs, but we'll certainly be a lot happier when we get some of our injured players back."

Photo: Action Images

fredbarber added 23:57 - Mar 9 5 Goals in 8 Games Great Strike Rate from Murphy! Keep up the good work lads. Same on Saturday please UP THE TOWN!!!!!!!!!!
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matt_the_blue added 00:00 - Mar 10 V good strike rate from Murphy. If he grabs one on Saturday he'll have equalled Stead's total in less than half the amount of games. Anyone still complaining we've loaned Stead out?
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ChambersM added 00:01 - Mar 10 good stuff lads!
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MightyPaz added 00:03 - Mar 10 Brilliant result, well done to Roy and the lads. Four more wins at least please....
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Crock added 00:12 - Mar 10 @matt_the_blue: What if we had kept Stead and not loaned Healy? Think about that for a while.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 00:43 - Mar 10 He took his goals well, Garvan played well and even headed the ball! Young lad at full back will play for England in the 2014 World Cup - you read it here first! See that corner, we have just turned it!
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blue_floyd added 01:54 - Mar 10 TractorRoyNo1: He won't be playing for England at all. He's Irish!
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GeorgiDoundarov added 02:12 - Mar 10 Croc and matt_the_blue: What if we had kept Stead and loaned our Pablo. I think Murphy Healy and Stead are our top three strikers. As for Pablo - he needs to play in 5 games in order to play good in one. That is very bad for a striker!
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bournemouthblue added 02:36 - Mar 10 Blue Floyd, he's half English half Irish so could play for either
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bennyblue added 05:08 - Mar 10 more likely given keane a lease of life this has been happening for a while now is it another false dawn ?
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leadbitter6 added 07:37 - Mar 10 i think he's probably part hamster too, he might play for them
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bluelass7 added 07:48 - Mar 10 Not surprised at the result really. Whilst we have been saying all season that someone was sooner or later gonna get a spanking, this is probably it, albeit only 2-0. Not once this season have I been concerned ref relegation. We will stay up and this season will make us a lot stronger for next. RK is the man to lead us forward and the remainder of this season could be very interesting if, as I suspect, we turn over Scunthorpe on Saturday.

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renoble added 08:08 - Mar 10 Cant believe the amount of "experts" who hammered Keane for trying to sign Murphy the two times before. When was the last time we had a genuine poaching treat up front? And did anyone see Healy yell at that ballboy? Dreadful. Jimmy Juan would never have done that. Or Danny Haynes...
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nobrain added 08:10 - Mar 10 At last! A decent performance against a side who are pushing for promotion. Murphy seems to have what all strikers need - confidence and an eye for the net. Good first half performance by Garvan - although he seemd to go off the boil a bit later one. I've had my doubts about him in terms of commitment, but not his ability to open up the play - but his corner-taking needs to improve. O'Connor was great - just the sort of performance to lift the team and the crowd. More of the same please lads!

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Bergholtblue added 08:10 - Mar 10 A great result. Garvan starts and starts to create things from midfield, Colbeck returns to the left side of midfield and the pair were fantastic last night. We miss Colbeck when he plays left back, O'connor was a revelation and looks to have made that position hois own. The problem we face now is 'where do we fit Leadbitter in when he becomes available again?' Last night did actually pose the question that when Norris and Leadbitter play in the centre are we, as a team, creative enough?

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bedsitfc added 08:30 - Mar 10 just wondering if we could play garvan just behind murphy as garvan can strike at goal as well as open defences up. opposing defenders may get drawn out to him or midfielders get drawn to him which would create morespace for the likes of norris and murphy
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brockleyblueboy added 08:47 - Mar 10 I don't think I can take any more, this seasonm has been up and down more times than a yo-yo. I kind of agree with beenytheblue - is this a false dawn. We HAVE to beat scunthorpe on Saturday, no question. We have been the most inconsistant team this season. What will be key is if he sticks with a winning team for Saturday. There is no need to change it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it (well not unless your Portsmouth haha)

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Dolly2.0 added 09:06 - Mar 10 Crock, hindsight is a wonderful thing. And healy still may come good when properly fit. Stead's ok but we need better than ok so I'm glad Keane's trying to fix the problem.
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NSL added 09:17 - Mar 10 Very good perfomance although I thought he looked better playing with Healy than Counago, even though Counago played much better than Healy!! I think Murphy is now a dead cert to start games, just a case of working out who he is best paired with.
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dobbie73 added 09:25 - Mar 10 Sign him up!!
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J45 added 09:26 - Mar 10 What? two goals for one in one match. wow well played murf
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La_Paz added 10:00 - Mar 10 The best game I've seen Garvan play for a long, long time. Fully deserves to keep his place on that showing. MacAuley also deserves a mention-he didn't miss one header all night and Bothroyd didn't get a sniff. Cardiff looked very poor-there's no doubt it was a good time to play them without some of their stronger players. And what was Marshall thinking with that kit? Oh my. Chopra, what's the score?! COYB, three more on Saturday please.

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kev_b20 added 10:10 - Mar 10 He has to stick with the same 11 on Saturday.....!!! Its taken him 35 games to finally play a 'footballing' side... Obviously with the exception of Norris who was out... The balance that has been soooo badly needed has finally been put on the field. I think Healy should get another start as he needs games, and also it was his movement that setup the first goal and drew defenders away.... The only thing the lad needs is game time to get the sharpness.... PLAY THE SAME 11 KEANO FOR GOD SAKE!!!

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naa added 10:13 - Mar 10 matt_the_blue: to add to other's comments. What about Murphy and Stead? People seem to think we swapped Murphy for Stead, but I see it as Stead and Healy. And I know which of those two I'd rather have here.
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RedDust added 10:27 - Mar 10 i think the issue of losing norris or leadbitter for garvan needs to be adressed because we need that free flowing creative movement in the centre!
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