Hot-shot Daryl Murphy ready to step it up for Ireland

If it was all about form, then Daryl Murphy would walk straight into the Irish team for the crunch European Championship qualifier against Scotland.

As things stand, Robbie Keane. Shane Long and Jon Walters all remain ahead of the Ipswich Town striker in the contest to claim a starting place upfront yet it’s Murphy who has finished this season as the leading Irish scorer in the top two divisions in England, netting 27 goals for the side which fell just short in the promotion play-offs.

“Personally, yeah, it’s been the best season I’ve had and I’m delighted with that,” says the one-time Waterford United man. “I never would have thought I’d get that many goals this season but up around Christmas, when I was scoring a lot and quite regularly, I thought, ‘let’s see how many I can get - aim for 30’. I just came up a bit shy – I’m bigging myself up a bit – but, yeah, I loved it.” It seems reasonable to ask if he thinks he could possibly do any more to catch Martin O’Neill’s eye.