Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy says he will have to carefully manage Daryl Murphy’s work load this season following the striker’s recent exerts at European Championships.

Murphy, 33, started and impressed in the Republic of Ireland’s 1-0 win over Italy and spirited 2-1 defeat to France recently.

It’s given hope to Blues fans that their number nine can rediscover the form which saw him finish as the Championship’s 27-goal top-scorer in 2014/15.

Having made 50 starts for club and country in that red-hot campaign, Murphy returned to pre-season late and always looked like he was playing catch-up in terms of sharpness during a largely frustrating stop-start season.

“Daryl is back in on the Tuesday after we get back from our trip to Ireland,” explained McCarthy, whose players returned to pre-season training on Monday and who next week will travel to Dublin for a week-long training camp which will conclude with a friendly against Shelbourne on Saturday, July 9.

“He’s having two weeks off, not three, so he doesn’t decondition.

“I spoke to him yesterday and said I’ll try and give him some sort of break or rest during the season, whether it’s extra days off or something, because I’ve been through what he’s done.

“In ‘88, when I played for Ireland in the European Championships, I went back to Celtic after two weeks off and was flying. Then, in September, it was like somebody had pulled the plug out. I didn’t know what had happened!

“I don’t want that to happen to him. Last year he had three weeks off after playing international football (featuring in end-of-season games against England and Scotland) and it took him a lot longer to get up to full speed and he ended up with an injury.

“This time I want him back a bit sooner so that he’s ready for the start of the season.”

Murphy started 31 games for Town last season – 14 of them came in a row between late October and early January, while either side of that he was never able to start more than three games in succession due to a series of niggles. He ended up scoring 10 goals, with those coming in just six games.

“He needs to be fit. That’s the big thing for Murph,” said McCarthy. “His season was so stop-start last year. And we’ve got to create the chances for him too, because he can’t do it on his own.”