It wasn't that surprising to read comments from Roy Keane this week praising goalkeeper Brian Murphy.

The 26-year-old will link up with Ipswich Town in January once the transfer window re-opens, but it appears that his arrival can't come soon enough for the under-pressure Keane.

Since taking over at Portman Road it has been clear that he has struggled to find a shot-stopper who can be deemed reliable.

Richard Wright is suffering the Massimo Taibi syndrome of conceding goals that he should be saving, Shane Supple opted to quit football, Arran-Lee Barrett is not that experienced, and Asmir Begovic has been recalled from his loan spell by Portsmouth.

So having Murphy available in just a few week's time has already got the Tractor Boys manager excited, especially when he considers just how well he did for Bohemians this season.

Ready to answer Ireland's call

Ireland have a long history of goalkeepers who have carved out successful careers for themselves. In fact, they have rarely been short of quality keepers.

Shay Given has set the benchmark for the other hopefuls to aspire to, but the likes of Joe Murphy, Kieren Westwood, Dean Kiely, Colin Doyle and Wayne Henderson are all good players.

Murphy could be set to skip ahead of that queue though, if his Ipswich career goes according to plan. Keane certainly thinks he can rival Given for the number one spot in Giovanni Trapattoni's team.

While he has yet to win a senior cap, the Waterford native was involved in the squad for the World Cup qualifying play-off against France recently. That should be the first of many call-up's.

The best for some years

There is something special about Murphy. He has the hunger of someone that wants to play at a higher level, the maturity to know that he can always improve, the ability to spot danger before it occurs and the athleticism to deal with shots when they are aimed at him.

Along with his handling, he also has an excellent range of kicking and can ignite a counter attack with his long throws. As a top class keeper he has it all.

63 clean sheets, two Premier Division titles, one FAI Cup, and one EA Sports Cup is not a bad record at all to sum up his time with Bohemians.

Of course, he will be missed in the League of Ireland (he was voted as the league's best goalkeeper the past two years), but it was inevitable that he would move on. Bigger and better things await him.

Expectations are bound to increase for him, although Murphy is now at the stage of his career where he is able to cope with them. Expect him to get even better.