Luke Murphy is finding his form again at Burton Albion after a difficult couple of years at Leeds United.
It didn’t take Garry Monk long to decide that Luke Murphy was not going to be in his plans at Leeds United.
Murphy featured just once for The Whites after Monk took over last summer, a 1-0 win at Luton Town in an August EFL Cup clash. However, he had to wait almost five months for his next appearance – and that came during a loan spell at Burton Albion once Leeds had cast him off in the January transfer window.
And, after performing impressively to help the Championship’s smallest club defy the odds and survive their debut campaign in England’s second tier, Murphy returned to the Pirelli on a season-long loan this summer and has offered a reminder why Leeds made him their first £1 million signing for eight years in 2013 (The Independent).
The former Crewe Alexandra captain has started each of Burton’s five Championship fixtures so far this season and continues to thrive under the tutelage of manager Nigel Clough, a manager who admires Murphy’s work rate and defensive contribution.
Back in favour, back in form
After three winless games to start the new season, Burton have picked up four points from their last two against Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday with Murphy at the forefront.
He set up Marvin Sordell’s equaliser in the 2-1 win against Harry Redknapp’s ambitious Blues while dominating the midfield in the 1-1 draw with Wednesday last time out, winning two tackles and blocking three shots to keep the highly favoured visitors at bay.
Few at Leeds will claim the club made a mistake to let Murphy go with Ronaldo Vieira, Eunan O’Kane, a revived Kalvin Phillips and new boy Mateusz Kilch to pick from in the centre of the park.
But Murphy leaving Elland Road looks to have been a move that has benefitted all parties.
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