REPUBLIC OF IRELAND manager Stephen Kenny says that Matt Doherty has “probably been undervalued by Ireland” after the defender completed his transfer to Spurs.
The 28-year-old’s move was announced today, signing a four-year deal for Jose Mourinho’s side after a 10-year spell with Wolves.
Doherty is also included in Kenny’s squad ahead of Ireland’s Nations League fixtures with Bulgaria and Finland in September.
“It’s certainly an interesting move for Matt,” the Ireland boss told members of the press today of Doherty’s switch to Spurs.
“He’s been tremendous servant of Wolves really. He’s had a great, great 10 years there, been in League One with them after moving from Bohemians.
“Obviously he’s pushed on over the last number of years and really, his number of assists and goals, a goal scoring full-back, to have a full-back who scores goals in a real asset so it’s great value for Tottenham.
“I think it’s a great deal for Tottenham.”
Kenny also remarked that he thinks Doherty is ‘one of the best full-backs around’ and is in a strong position to get game time under Mourinho’s watch.
When asked if a transfer to a strong Premier League side like Spurs increases the pressure to fit him into the Ireland team, he said:
“It’s tough. There’s no there is no doubt that right back has been a strong position for Ireland.
“For me, the strongest out of all the positions because Cyrus Christie has had a really strong end of season at Fulham and we could actually have four right backs in the Premier League next year.
“There might be Seamus Coleman, Matt Doherty, Cyrus Christie and Dara O’Shea, which is unbelievable really. But it’s quite conceivable that that could happen.
Matt has probably been undervalued by Ireland, only three competitive starts for Ireland at 28 years of age.
“So I think that’s quite a stark statistic really but at the same time Seamus has been an outstanding player for Ireland for a number of years. A brilliant captain. So it’s a good position to be in.
“Obviously we haven’t got a lot of time but we will work hard to maximize that. We will outline how we want to play to the players this evening and work over the next couple of days on that and how Bulgaria will play against us.”
Doherty and Coleman have previously battled it out for a starting place in the Ireland team, but Kenny says he’s confident that he can put both players into his formation.
“I’m sure yeah, and we’ve got so many games as well, we’ve got eight games in the next three windows, potentially a record amount of games in the calendar and that’s the way where we have to think so there’s lots of games for all the players.”
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