Roy Hodgson's men were knocked out of the FA Cup this week but they are still in the Europa League and expectations have risen following their famous victory over Juventus to earn a place in the last eight. They face German side Wolfsburg on Thursday but Murphy is focused on the trip to Hull at the weekend and he believes Hodgson's squad is capable of coping with the demands of extra fixtures. "Regardless of what is going on in other competitions, we still want to kick on and maintain our top-half placing," Murphy said. "All through the season I've talked about our character and strength and every member of the squad deserves credit because over the past eight months everyone has played their part. "When you look at the difference between now and last season, when we played a similar team for the majority of it, it shows how much the squad has developed. I think it has made us a stronger club." One of the squad players to contribute is Nicky Shorey, who is on loan from Aston Villa and could make his switch permanent in the summer. "At the moment I am not too sure what will happen, but I'm not in the picture at Villa so I do have to think about that," Shorey said. "I'm enjoying my time here and it will definitely be something that I consider when the time comes." Shorey could feature at the KC Stadium against Hull as he is ineligible for European football. He is enjoying his spell at Fulham after struggling for regular football at Villa Park. "It's a strange situation really, and in a lot of ways it's worse than being injured," he said. "When a player misses games through injury it's an enforced absence, but when you are fit and ready to play but still not getting a look in it's hard to take. It was a frustrating time and hopefully one I won't experience again."
