Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy says the hip injury which left David McGoldrick sat in the stands for today’s pre-season opener is ‘nothing to be concerned about’.

McGoldrick, who has endured two injury-ravaged seasons, finished last season on a high with two goals in the last three games and it is hoped that he can rediscover his talismanic form of 2013/14 in this coming campaign.

He was forced to sit and watch from the stands this afternoon though as the Blues, who had a completely different team in each half, won their first summer friendly 2-1 against Irish second-tier side Shelbourne at Tolka Park, Dublin.

“He’s just got a bit of a sore hip flexor,” said McCarthy, who was in deep discussion with McGoldrick at half-time. “He’s just having to manage it. But it’s nothing to be too concerned about, he’ll be fine.”

Brett Pitman and Freddie Sears scored in either half this afternoon, with Dylan Grimes halving the deficit from the penalty spot late on after Tommy Smith handled the ball in the box.

“You could see the pitch wasn’t really conducive to the ball being moved quickly,” said McCarthy, whose side now travel to Barnet on Wednesday night.

“We scored two good goals, I don’t know about the penalty, whether it was or it wasn’t, but it made for a bit of a closer game anyway.

“They’ve only played 45 minutes but they’re knackered. So long as they’ve run around and are getting their fitness, that’s what it’s all about.

“They’ve had a great week, they’ve all enjoyed it. It’s a bit of a slow burner, we don’t kick off until the 6th (of August, at home to Barnsley), that’s when we need to be ready.”

The Ipswich players have been in Dublin all week, training at the impressive facilities of Carton House for the fourth successive summer.

“We get well looked after,” said McCarthy. “You can see the standard of it because Rafa Benitez took Real Madrid there and he’s taken Newcastle there too – he obviously remembers it fondly. It’s a great facility and the lads just love it, it’s great.”

New signing Adam Webster travelled to Ireland, has stepped up his training, but didn’t play today as continues to recover from an ankle injury sustained at the back end of last season with Portsmouth. McCarthy is hopeful he will be fully fit come the start of the season.

Striker Daryl Murphy won’t link up with the squad until Tuesday after his exploits with the Republic of Ireland at the European Championships, while left-back Myles Kenlock (ankle) and midfielder Giles Coke (knee) stayed back in Suffolk to continue their rehab.

Meanwhile, McCarthy says that he continues to look for new additions, but that no new signings to his squad are imminent.

– See Monday’s EADT and Ipswich Star for more comment and reaction.