GOALKEEPER Joe Murphy is prepared to put club before country in a bid to help keep Scunthorpe United in the Championship.

The 28-year-old has confirmed he pulled out of the Republic of Ireland squad for last week's glamour friendly against Brazil to avoid worsening a mystery wrist injury.

Murphy admits he is unsure whether the decision to make himself unavailable will affect his future under Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni.

But it is a risk he is prepared to take again if it would be of benefit to the Iron's survival plans.

Murphy is unsure how he hurt his wrist – but it is something he has carried for the past couple of weeks.

"I think it probably happened in the game against Barnsley, but I don't really know how," he confessed.

"What has happened is that my wrist has been swollen just above where you would wear your watch.

"It has affected the tendons and given me a tingling sensation down into my fingers.

"The swelling just would not go down and I played with it against Watford and Ipswich.

"I went for an x-ray last week but nothing really was found.

"I played again at Coventry but didn't really do much warm-up work before the game.

"But I decided against joining up with the Republic squad for the game with Brazil.

"I was only the number three keeper and I know that would probably have meant me having to face a lot of shots in training.

"That would not have done my wrist any good.

"It was a big decision to pull out of the Ireland game, and I hope in future that it does not affect my chances with the squad.

"But I wanted to make sure I was fully fit to concentrate on the last 12 games of the season for Scunthorpe."