Watford and Republic of Ireland under-19 midfielder Sean Murray has been named as the nPower Championship Young Player of the Month for March.

The 18 year old scored four goals in seven games in March, leading to the coveted award, the first of his career. Murray only made his first team debut for the Hornets on the last day of the 2010-11 season, and was merely a squad player for the first half of the current campaign. However, after impressing in a cup game against Tottenham Hotspur, Murray cemented his place in the first team with some fine performances.

“This year I had to work hard to get into the team and it wasn’t working at first, but I got my chance against Spurs and kept my place,” Murray told the BBC. “The other players have helped me out a lot. The experience of the other players keeps me level headed.”

Murray hopes to follow fellow Watford youth Marvin Sordell, who joined Bolton in January, by playing in the Premier League. “I definitely feel I can do that,” said Murray. “But I need to cement my place in this team before I can make a big impact. I’d definitely want to go up with Watford. We’ve pushed on at the back end of this season. At the start of the campaign nobody expected us to be as high as we are. That just shows how good the team ethic is.”

Club manager Sean Dyche praised his in-form youngster, but admits that it’s still early days for Murray.  “It’s quite simple, the challenge is to force his way into our side, deliver performances and see what comes after that,” said Dyche. He’s very young, he’s only 18 and he’s developing nicely. We’re not overloading him with information at the moment and over time we’ll add in some of the tactical and technical details. He’s got a long way to go but it’s a very nice start to what will hopefully be a very good career.”

Watford sit in fourteenth, nine points adrift of the playoffs, so look very unlikely to be playing Premier League football next season. However, if Murray keeps up his current form, maybe a summer transfer might be possible.

Related posts:

1. Ipswich striker Ronan Murray joins Torquay on loan
2. Rene Gilmartin joins Crawley Town on loan
3. Sean Thornton signs for Aberystwyth Town
4. 3 Irish in Championship Team of the Year
5. Mark Yeates joins Watford