Birmingham City star vows to be ready for Premier League campaign

May 27 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

He reflected: “I played 30 league games but it was a bit unsatisfactory personally.

‘‘It seemed that whenever I came into a bit of form I got injured, or suspended. I was pleased with how I started off, but then I picked up a niggle and after that I was in and out of the side.

“Obviously the way it ended wasn’t ideal for me but it was great that the lads saw things through and we did what we set out to do: get promotion.” Murphy said that he felt Blues would make a good fist of it in the Premier League.

“I think the football in the Premier League will be better suited to us,” he said.

“Certainly during parts of the season our football wasn’t the best, it was disappointing. But the Championship’s not an easy league. Teams would come to St Andrew’s in particular and see it as their biggest game and make it difficult for us.

“The pressure on us was massive and although it wasn’t pretty at times the objective was to get promotion by any means necessary.

“I think the character of the squad showed through because despite all that, and despite the injuries we got, we managed to get the results when it mattered.”

Murphy moved to Blues from Hibernian for £1.5million in January 2008 and was pitched into a battle against relegation, which sadly ended unsuccessfully.

“That was the lowest point of my career so far,” he said.