Hunt brothers in limbo as Mick McCarthy ponders options

Former Irish internationals Stephen and Noel Hunt are amongst five players who will have to wait to discover whether they have a future at Ipswich Town.

The Hunt brothers, Darren Ambrose and Paul Anderson are all out of contract, while Richard Chaplow has been on loan from Millwall, who recently announced his release.

“We won’t be offering them anything at the moment,” manager Mick McCarthy said, the Tractor Boys having been beaten by local rivals Norwich City in the Championship play-off semi-finals on Saturday.

“I’m going away on holiday, they are going away and I’ve told them I want to see what is around. They will be doing the same as well.

“There is an element of freshening things up. We need to go again and you need fresh faces to do that so we will see what happens with those lads.

“I have not closed the door on those players. They are great lads. We might be good for them. They might be good for us but there is nothing happening with them at the moment.”

Former Irish U21 international Jay Tabb has had an option for a further season activated by the Suffolk club, who have released striker Jack Marriott and Wales U21 international right-back Elliott Hewitt.

McCarthy, meanwhile, has ruled out letting Irish strike duo Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick leave.

McCarthy said: “You are looking at Murph, with 27 goals this season. Didz (McGoldrick) is another. I had a word with him and he’s not looking to move. He wants to come back and show everyone what a good player he is again.”