Nottingham Forest striker Daryl Murphy is unlikely to be on the move this January and is happy at the City Ground despite a lack of playing time under Aitor Karanka.  

It had emerged that Ipswich Town were interested in re-signing the 35-year-old in the New Year to boost their chance of survival under Paul Lambert.

However, according to the East Anglian Times, no contact has been made with Forest over Murphy’s availability, with the Irish striker seemingly happy in the Midlands despite finding himself behind Lewis Grabban in Karanka’s plans for the season.

Grabban is the Championship’s top goalscorer with 14 goals to his name this season, which has limited Murphy to just 10 appearances across all competitions.

Illness and injury have played a part in that lack of game time, though, with Murphy doing well to return four goals in those limited appearances.

Murphy’s last goal for the Reds came back in late September, when he netted in the 3-2 victory over Stoke City in the League Cup.

Karanka gave Murphy a rare chance in Monday night’s East Midlands derby with Derby County, with the Spaniard turning to his bench in the 83^rd minute and Murphy replacing Grabban for the closing stages of the fixture.

The Verdict  

Whilst Ipswich might be able to offer Murphy more game time than Forest, their opposite ends of the table might be a deciding factor to where the striker wants to spend the second-half of the season.

A play-off push with Forest is far more attractive than a relegation battle with Ipswich and, in truth, it does appear that Karanka will give Murphy a couple of opportunities.

Thoughts? Let us know!