Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy has confirmed his interest in Irish right-winger Daryl Horgan, but says ‘about 100 scouts’ are keeping tabs on the in-form Dundalk player.

The League of Ireland side have made headlines for an unlikely run to the group stages of the Europa League, with Horgan their star man.

Calls for the former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international to get a senior call-up have intensified and the 24-year-old looks set to leave on a Bosman free transfer next summer.

Reports in Ireland said Ipswich had a scout at Dundalk’s 2-1 win over Cork City on Tuesday night, a game in which Horgan scored the winner.

“There were about about 100 scouts watching him, I can tell you that,” said McCarthy.

Quizzed further on his interest in the player, the Blues boss added: “Quite clearly when I get asked a question about him by you there are no secrets are there?”

Meanwhile, McCarthy said he won’t be taking his interest in recent trialist Jordan Spence further.

The 26-year-old right-back is a free agent after being released by MK Dons in the summer and played two U23s games for the Blues earlier in the month.

“He did alright,” said McCarthy. “I took him and had a look at him, there’s nothing ventured nothing gained, but Josh (Emmanuel) came in and played two games so I’m not really looking for one (a right-back), to be honest.

“If anything it made Josh go, ‘Hold on a minute, he might be looking at somebody else!’ and he played very well in both games.”