MATT DOHERTY IS quietly building a reputation as Wolves’ Mr Consistent but with so many eyes on Anfield tomorrow (Saturday 12.30pm, BT Sport 2) he knows it’s an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
Wolves’ league form may be patchy — four wins, two draws and four losses from their last 10 Championship games — but having already claimed one Premier League scalp in this season’s FA Cup, a trip to face Jurgen Klopp’s charges incites a sense of hopeful adventure, not one of fear.
The FA Cup already has a special place in the heart of the affable Dubliner, even if a trip past the fourth round has so far eluded the 25-year-old.
Doherty’s professional debut in England, when Mick McCarthy was running the show at the West Midlands club, came in this famed competition, a 2-2 draw with Doncaster Rovers in 2011.
Irish links to the four-time FA Cup winners were particularly strong in those days; compatriots Stephen Hunt, Kevin Doyle and Stephen Ward were in action on that occasion.
Although Doherty was left out for Wolves’ 5-0 win in the replay, his debut for the club remains particularly special, a watershed moment that confirmed professional football was where he wanted to be.
“Yeah, that’s where it all started for me really,” Doherty tells The42.
“It was 2-2, a tough game and that kind of gave me the realisation that this is what it’s all about, this is what I want to do.”
There have been plenty of swings and roundabouts since, successive relegations saw the club drop to League One in 2013 only for them to return to England’s second tier less than 12 months later.
All the while, loans spells at Hibernian and Bury kept Doherty on the periphery of a club trying to steady itself and plot its way forward once again.
Things have been turbulent at Wolves since Doherty made the move across the Irish Sea from Bohemians in 2010 — current boss Paul Lambert is the club’s sixth manager since McCarthy’s tenure ended in 2012.
Despite the rocky road Doherty has established himself as one of the club’s most reliable performers.
He was the only player to feature in all of the club’s league games in 2016 and his efforts last season earned him an impressive hat-trick of awards — players’ player of the year, fans’ player of the year and goal of the year for his rasping 35-yard effort against Fulham.
Doherty has gone from strength to strength this season despite his shift from right full-back to the opposite flank.
His performances have earned him rave reviews from Lambert while his versatility has added another string to his bow and led to comparisons from some quarters with Ireland and Manchester United legend Denis Irwin.
His adaptability was tested on a whole new level last weekend however, with a 15-minute spell in goals during a 3-1 defeat to Norwich.
Having earned the Helder Costa penalty which saw Norwich draw level 12 minutes into the second half, Doherty found himself between the sticks on 75 minutes as Lambert had no substitutes remaining to cover the sending off of stopper Carl Ikeme.
Ikeme’s departure came after Wes Hoolahan went down in the box following an attempted challenge from the goalkeeper. Ikeme wasn’t happy, suggesting the Ireland international had dived. A melee ensued, the goalkeeper got his marching orders, and Doherty stepped up to the plate.
His first job was, aside from a brief stumble during the spot-kick, to pick Robbie Brady’s penalty out of the net.
“When I was younger, at under-eights, I used to be a goalkeeper. It was just a case of the fattest kid in,” Doherty quips.
“As you can see from the attempted penalty save, I fell over, it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
That was a rare blot on his copybook. Just three weeks ago Doherty stole the show in their FA Cup third-round defeat of Stoke at the Bet365 Stadium, his stunning, 80th-minute free-kick sealing their 2-0 win and Wolves’ first victory in the competition for six years.
“Against Stoke, to score the free-kick was one of the best feelings I’ve had in football.
“For those 10 seconds afterwards, ah…that’s why you play the game.”
Wolves’ fourth-round trip stokes similar emotions in the former Belvedere schoolboy, who despite his limited Premier League experience has already played on the hallowed Anfield turf.
Doherty’s sole Premier League outing to date came on Merseyside in 2011, when introduced as a half-time substitute with his side 2-0 in arrears owing to a Luis Suarez strike and a Roger Johnson own goal.
He impressed during his cameo, although McCarthy’s side ultimately left Anfield with nothing despite rattling their hosts in the second period.
“It was 2-0 at half-time,” Doherty recalls.
“Richard Stearman got injured just before half-time. I was told to warm up and that I was coming on with Steven Fletcher.
We lost the game 2-1. [Stewart] Downing played on the left and I did quite well.
“It went quick. I really enjoyed it. I remember thinking ‘wow’, I’ve played in the Premier League against Liverpool and I thought I was actually going to play on then but I never did.
“The full-back was fit for the next week and he got back in the team and then I ended up going out on loan.
“It was just one of those things where if he was injured I would have played.”
As Doherty, a passionate Arsenal fan, prepares for his Anfield return he sees reasons for optimism.
Towards the end of last year the Reds were making light work of Premier League defences and looking like serious title contenders.
But with just one win from their last seven outings — and that coming in their FA Cup third-round replay against Plymouth Argyle — 2017 hasn’t been so smooth for Liverpool.
Wednesday night’s EFL Cup second-leg home defeat to Southampton highlighted ongoing flaws in Liverpool’s ranks, and Doherty is quietly confident Wolves can extend the Reds’ miserable run.
“I watched them [against Southampton] of course, I did my homework,” says Doherty, who has already heard from plenty of Liverpool fans at home this week.
“They looked beatable, put it that way. We’re going there to beat them, there’s no doubt about that. We’re going to play to try and beat them, we’re not going there to play for a draw.
“On the day, we think if we can get in and around them … and it depends what team they play really. If they’ve got kids out then we can really get on top.
“If they’re at full strength, we’re going to play for the win but you can’t go all out and then find yourself 2-0 down at half-time, you’ve got to be smart as well.
“We’ve got a good game plan going there and we’re going to try and do it.”
Doherty is exuding confidence right now, and he is hoping that his versatility will help him earn a first senior Ireland cap in the not-so-distant future.
“It’s actually fine at the moment,” Doherty says of his switch to the left flank.
“I’m able to play both sides just the same which is a great benefit because I’m a full-back on either side now. That can only help my career and improve me.
“Obviously I am a right-back, there’s no doubt about that. I’m stronger on my right foot.
“But say I was to get in an Ireland squad and they needed a left-back, they know I can play left-back too.
It’s not like I can just play there the odd time, I’m actually able to play both positions to the same level.
Doherty got his first taste of the Ireland setup last year when Martin O’Neill included him in the squad for friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia. And while he didn’t get to make his international debut, he found it to be a very useful experience.
“They [O'Neill and assistant manager Roy Keane] said I needed to work on my back-post defending, which I’ve done.
“I’ve worked on that and improved. I think they think I can go forward pretty well but I have to defend as well.
“I would say they may have had a point at the time. I’ve improved on my defending a lot.
“At the end of the day, I am a defender so going forward and getting goals and assists is kind of a bonus.
“I needed to improve my defending and I think I’ve done that. I feel pretty comfortable with defending at the moment.”
It’s just as well, too, because Doherty could well have his hands full against the Premier League’s most prolific attack.
– First published 21.30, 27 Jan
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