IRELAND U21 INTERNATIONAL Joe Hodge said he’s proud of how his team-mates responded to the alleged racist incident which caused their friendly against Kuwait to be abandoned.
Last month’s friendly between the countries in Austria was abandoned in the second half after an alleged incident of racist abuse directed towards Irish substitute Sinclair Armstrong was reported to the referee.
Hodge, who was not in the squad for the match and watching from the stands, said that his team-mates had responded “really well” in the aftermath of the incident.
“I think we did the right thing,” Hodge said, speaking on Wednesday at the launch of Wolves’ upcoming friendly with Celtic.
“I think a fair few of us heard it. We told the ref straight away. Everyone went about it professionally.”
He added: “Everybody, especially Killian Phillips and Sinny [Sinclair Armstrong], they handled it really well, and I think we should all be proud of the way that we dealt with it.”
The FAI released a statement at the time stating the game had been abandoned as a result of the abuse, a claim which was disputed by the Kuwait FA who argued that it had been stopped because of “excessive roughness and tension between the players”. The matter was reported to Uefa and to Fifa by the FAI.
“We have to try to rise above that nonsense, really,” Hodge said, “but we’re all pretty clear and united on it that there’s no place for it.”
Hodge will travel with Wolves to Dublin at the end of the month as part of their pre-season tour and the 20-year-old is hoping it can be a launching pad for further first-team football at the club.
The midfielder has made just six senior appearances for the Molineux side, but having been on the receiving end of praise from Julen Lopetegui, he is hoping to cement consistent game time next season.
“Everything has been made clear to me about what I need to do to be involved.”
“Obviously, I want more minutes than last season, but it’s just the top-top level and it’s not easy to get those minutes.”
“I’m just trying to listen to what he’s telling me to do, and hopefully that leads to more game time and hopefully starting to become a more important player.”
There have been some high-profile departures from the club since the end of the season, with Ruben Neves heading to the Saudi professional league side Al-Hilal.
Fellow Irishman Nathan Collins has also left the club after falling out of favour towards the middle of the season, sealing a move to Brentford on a record transfer fee.
But it could be one Irish international out, another Irish international in, with Matt Doherty linked with a return to his former club.
For Hodge, both players are the example of the standard needed to break into the starting XI.
“Nathan’s a top footballer, everyone here knows that. Look, I will miss him, but it does show you the levels. Nathan obviously wants more minutes, but everyone is competing for places in the Premier League, it’s never going to be easy to get those minutes.”
On whether he has seen Matt Doherty knocking around the place, Hodge laughed but said he would be a welcome addition.
“I’ve not really heard anything [on whether he’s returning], but if it were to happen, I wouldn’t be unhappy about it.”
*Celtic v Wolverhampton Wanderers is set for the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, July 29, with kick-off at 2pm. Tickets are now available and ticket prices start at €35 for Adults and €20 for Under-16s and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.ie.
