Town boss Mick McCarthy says former Blues striker Daryl Murphy deserves a warm welcome back to Portman Road with Newcastle United this afternoon. The 34-year-old Irishman joined the Magpies from the Blues in August for £3 million.

“Of course he does, Murph was brilliant for us and we have missed him, no doubt about that,” McCarthy said.

“We’ve missed his goals, missed his power, missed his pace, missed his ability up front to stick the ball for us.

“We’ve tried a number of things to replace him, it hasn’t worked. And he’s not played on a regular basis up there but when he came on in a game but he actually changed the game for them. He’s played more now and he’s a damned good Championship player.”

Town failed to find a replacement for Murphy in the final days of the August transfer window and again in January with a £2 million offer for Preston’s Jordan Hugill among their failed bids.

“In August it was very difficult to do that and in January it just didn’t work out, trying to sign players didn’t work out and that was unfortunate for us,” McCarthy added ruefully.

Does a replacement for Murphy remain a priority for the summer ahead? “The squad’s going to have to change, it’s not just a question of [replacing] Daryl Murphy.”

Across his four spells with the Blues Murphy made 207 starts and 18 sub appearances, scoring 67 goals, including 27 in the 2014/15 play-off season.

Since joining the Magpies the Republic of Ireland international has made seven starts and made eight appearances from the bench, netting five times.

Photo: Action Images

battyblue added 06:21 - Apr 17 The only reason we crept into the playoffs with his golden year.
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blue75 added 06:37 - Apr 17 Why has this even been written who can blame a player for wanting to get away from this club with McCarthy in charge!!!
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OwainG1992 added 07:24 - Apr 17 I like that he says the squad needs to change. Feel like maybe he's seeing sense?
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jas0999 added 07:29 - Apr 17 I'm sure he will. However, he will also remind us of the shambolic situation of selling him and STILL not signing a permanent replacement. Step forward the unambitious Evans.
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leahcar88 added 07:40 - Apr 17 He may well of seen sense but he may also of seen something completely different like we need a young dougie make that two and a young skuse. Hopefully not.
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Woodbridgian added 08:24 - Apr 17 I'm sure he will, the only people to blame for his departure are a clueless manager and an unambiguous owner who has lost interest in the club.
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Dissboyitfc added 09:27 - Apr 17 he wont get a lot of game time in the prem, If mm stays i can see him coming back here on loan!
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Cloddyseedbed added 09:29 - Apr 17 Murphy will get a standing ovation I'm sure of that, he was a great player for us and were still missing him because of other peoples mistakes at the club. "The squad is going to have to change". I think you'll find it is the constant change of the squad that is the problem, the old core stays the same but fresh players come in abundance every year, most not that good. Every season a fresh squad is assembled but not built. During a 4 year period of one manager we have not progressed one bit in terms of building a better squad of players. That is not the fault of the supporters and the diminishing crowd but the fault of the owner and manager. I have no faith in this pair going forwards, both are as arrogant as each other and the future of our club is suffering because of their outdated views.

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Crawfordsboot added 10:00 - Apr 17 Meant to down arrow blue 75. Lot of rubbish talked about Murphy's departure. He is in the twilight years of what is a short career. He had the chance of a final windfall payday sufficient to secure his future. It was a no brainer for him irrespective of whether he liked or loathed ITFC. From the clubs point of view there was simply no point in forcing him to stay and forego a final big pay day. Too many post simply to reaffirm their own prejudices against The manager, the owner or the club.

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itfchorry added 10:26 - Apr 17 He will get a better reception than you McCarthy -
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Sam added 10:28 - Apr 17 I actually made a poster this morning saying how good he was. A truly magnificent ITFC legend who will be remembered in years to come. Have a good day Murph, but not too good though!! COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mark added 10:47 - Apr 17 Murphy does deserve a good reception, but the club's owner and management deserve a bad reception for selling Murphy and failing to bring in a replacement TWICE. To do it in August was one thing, but to repeat it in January left us fighting for Championship survival this season when season tickets were sold on the basis of the play-offs being our aim.
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H1960 added 11:35 - Apr 17 I am one of McCarthys biggest critics and would love to see him gone, however he got it right with Murphy by playing him up top rather than the previous two idiots who for a majority of his previous spells at the club played him out on the left. At 34 he his now past his best and can understand the clubs decision to cash in on him whilst they had the opportunity but then not to reinvest the money on a replacement is a disgrace.

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