Town striker Daryl Murphy believes his shortest-ever summer break could prove to be of considerable benefit to both him and the club in the months ahead.

Murphy, 33, may have been given extra time off by manager Mick McCarthy after representing the Republic of Ireland in the European Championship in France, but he still didn’t have long to put his feet up.

Now he is hoping he can recapture the form of two seasons ago when he was the Championship’s leading marksman with 27 goals, rather than when he netted just 10 times in a disappointing 2015/16 campaign disrupted by a series of injury problems.

Murphy said: “I feel good. It’s obviously different from previous seasons because I’ve had longer away from the club but I think this might suit me better.

“I’ve come back after only a few weeks off, maintained my fitness and gone straight back into training, so I got away with all the running and that was a plus!”

But on a more serious note he added: “Last season was so disappointing on a personal basis. I picked up a few niggles through the season, which knocked me back, and any time I came back and got a run of games something came up.

“It was different things, like when I was getting over a calf injury and my groin would be sore.

“It was little things building up, I don’t know, for whatever reason. They would come from nowhere when I was least expecting it and it was horrible when I was coming back from one injury to pick up a completely different one.

“Just when I was feeling good something else would sneak up on me and keep me out for a week or two, or even longer.

“It’s not nice, it’s hard to get your head around and it’s very frustrating. So personally, it wasn’t great but I’m ready to go this season.

“I played a lot of games the season before last and I was also away with Ireland that summer.

“I’ve had a shorter break this year but in previous years I’ve come back, done the pre-season training and then picked up little niggles and injuries that have kept me out for a week or two. Hopefully I’m over all that and I can get cracking on Saturday.”

Murphy relishes his relationship with McCarthy, who helped him greatly towards the end of last season.

With Town’s play-off hopes over, he had Murphy’s international prospects in mind when he rested him to help him recover his fitness in time for the tournament in France.

The player added: “I don’t think I was ready to come back in and play here. If the gaffer had played me I could have had a setback, so I think the extra rest was what I needed, both from an Ipswich and Ireland perspective.

“The gaffer has been brilliant from day one. You can talk to him about things like that. He’s sensible enough and he’s been there and done it.

“He knows that when you are coming back from injury and you’re getting older you will get niggles and knocks.

“Maybe you need a day here and there out of training, whatever it might be, and he understands that, so I’m sure that during the course of the season I’ll probably have a bit more time off than I have in the past.

“I’m not worried about hitting a wall in September or October. I don’t think that will happen. I’ve had a chat with the gaffer about it and it’s something we will look into during the season, to see if I can get a rest here and there, but at the moment I feel good.

“It would be a big ask to play in every game but hopefully I can play as many as the gaffer wants me to play.”

Photo: Action Images

brian_a_mul added 08:59 - Aug 5 Agree, he is our main striker and we need him fit. For a target man (thats term doesn't really do him justice) he does alot of running and hard graft for the team. His role may have to change slightly this season. That is the problem with for small squads in the most physically demanding league. I hope the energy that the young players bring to the squad will help revitalise some of the aging ones.

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Penguinblue added 11:00 - Aug 5 He owes Town some good performances. Has become a bit lazy in my view. Needs to try and win the second ball, not just the first
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