Murphy hopeful of winning new Tractor Boys contract

FORMER Bohemians keeper Brian Murphy is hoping he can win a new Ipswich Town contract in the remaining weeks of the season.

The 27-year-old has had little opportunity to show new Tractor Boys boss Paul Jewell what he can do having been out of action since December with a broken ankle sustained in training.

The Waterford man got back into action with Ipswich’s reserves last week, but it’s been a difficult few months for him, the injury coming only a few weeks before Paul Jewell took over the Portman Road hot-seat from Roy Keane.

“It’s never a good time to pick up an injury, it’s the worst injury I’ve had and hopefully I won’t have another one like it,” he said.

“The new manager’s come in and he’s seen the squad every day and I wasn’t there, which was frustrating. I’m trying to make up for what he hasn’t seen now and hopefully I can impress him between now and the end of the season.”

Murphy says there have been some talks about a new deal but so far nothing definite. “There’s been a few things but nothing that’s anything major at the moment. I’m sure it will all be sorted soon enough.

“I haven’t been offered a contract but there are different clauses (on the current contract) and different things to be sorted. I don’t really want to say too much on that because I haven’t spoken to the manager regarding it myself personally. I’m just happy to get fit.”

But Murphy is in no doubt that he wants to remain an Ipswich player, having joined the Suffolk club on a free transfer from Bohs in January 2010. He’s also looking for a return to regular first team football after playing second fiddle to Hungarian international Marton Fulop prior to suffering the injury.

“There’s a lot of potential at this club. I suppose it’s easy for anyone to sit here and say ‘it’s a great club with great fans’, everyone knows that, but we just haven’t been consistent enough in the year and a half that I’ve been here. We can’t seem to sustain a good run for too long.

“You want to play games at the end of the day. I’m nearly 28 and you want to be involved and you want to feel like you’re pushing for a first team spot. That’s not always going to be handed to you but you just want to feel like you’re involved in the squad.”

Murphy kept a clean sheet in his second comeback game, Tuesday’s 0-0 reserves draw with Watford, in front of the watching Jewell and won’t have done himself any harm with his performance, but with only one league reserve game remaining he’s aware his opportunities are limited.

“I know there are only a handful of games left and we’ll have to see what the manager’s thinking and hopefully I did a bit to push on against Watford.

“I don’t know how far away I am and I’ve set no target for the first team. Other people make that choice on what they’ve seen in training and with the ankle.”