Mick McCarthy challenges Daryl Murphy to score winner against Boro following bad miss

Mick McCarthy has challenged Daryl Murphy to score the winner against Boro after the in-form Ipswich striker missed a sitter on Saturday.

The Championship’s top scorer with 22 goals opened the scoring in Ipswich’s 1-1 draw against Brentford at the weekend but went on to miss a glorious opportunity to add a second.

Teed up by Jonathan Parr’s square pass from the left, Murphy poked a shot over the bar with his left foot from inside the six yard box with the goal at his mercy (seen just after 3 minutes in the video below).

McCarthy admits the 31-year-old won’t be allowed to forget about his miss.

“Everybody is asking me about it and so he’ll be reading it and hearing about it! He doesn’t need that,” said the Town boss, who added: “He’s been remarkable this season.

“He’s scored some unlikely goals along the way and today he’s missed one you’d never expect him to miss.

“It’s football; that’s just the way it is. I’ve just ruffled his hair and said ‘come on, go and score the winner at Middlesbrough’. There’s nowt he can do about that now.”

McCarthy admits his side’s draw at the weekend left him frustrated.

The draw leaves the club seventh, one point adrift of the Bees in sixth, and Ipswich are next in action at the Riverside.

There’s a huge amount riding on the result of the televised tussle for both teams.

“I hate to state the obvious, but it is two points dropped,” said McCarthy, looking back at the Brentford game.

“There were chances at both ends though and it could yet end up proving to be a point gained.

“Maybe that’s why I’m still doing this job because I tend to look on the positives rather than the negatives.

“We had chances, but we didn’t take them,” he added. “That’s the price you pay. It makes it frustrating, but I was delighted with the way we played.

“I’ll take the point and we’ll just keep pecking away at all those above us and keep trying to get enough points to stay in the play-offs.

“If we continue to play like that we’ll get more good results than bad ones and should be in the mix for the promotion spots, whether that be the top two or six.”

Ipswich have struggled on the road in recent weeks, losing four of their last five away games.

In fact, their record away from Portman Road is moderate with just six Championship wins so far this season, the lowest total among the top eight clubs.