Doherty welcomes the return of Keane

IRELAND’S match-winning hero Gary Doherty will lead the welcoming committee for Robbie Keane in Tirana today even if it could mean he will be relegated to the substitutes’ bench.

Doherty contributed a precious goal and a full-blooded, committed performance to Ireland's cause in difficult circumstances in Tiblisi but insisted he will willingly step down to make way for Keane if Brian Kerr so chooses.

"I know that Robbie is one of our best players so I'm going to be as happy as any of the supporters just to see him come back and I'll happily move aside if that needs be."

Such a wholesome attitude might be termed naive by some fellow-professionals but it was a delight to hear. Nobody worked harder than Doherty in Ireland's cause in Georgia and success owed much to the collective commitment of the squad. Doherty is not the most sophisticated of centre-forwards to wear Ireland's international shirt and he is probably better suited to playing at centre-back. His contribution was hugely important, however, to Ireland's success. He laboured alone for much of the game, battling un-even odds in trying to win the ball in the air; assisting the defensive effort by chasing between three central defenders.

He might have won a penalty a less honest player would surely have - and his goal was priceless. His selfless attitude was reflected in his assessment of what Robbie Keane will bring to the party: "It is massive for us that he's coming. I think Robbie is probably one of our best players, his goal-scoring is frightening. We get it first hand, me and Chris (Hughton), what he's like in training, and I think getting him back is going to be a massive boost for the team."

It is possible that Brian Kerr will name Keane as a substitute and keep faith with the players who did so well for him in Tiblisi. Keane's personal trauma and recent lack of matches suggest he might have more impact as a second half replacement. It is also possible he will start with Doherty as his partner. "I've never really played in matches with Robbie. I think we played 20 minutes against Russia this season but at Spurs we've never really had an opportunity to play together and it is something I definitely look forward to," said Docherty.

Doherty is one of those who won a European Championship medal with Kerr at under-age level and he spoke of the benefits of having come up through the ranks "It's five years now since I started playing with the likes of Duffer and Robbie Keane and I think you get to know personalities and it makes you more relaxed when you do come away with the senior squad.

"It is definitely a massive step to be familiar with them and especially since we had so much success at U18 level and it is a massive bonus when some of the younger lads have come in now and are doing things with the senior team."

He had no doubts about benefiting from Ireland's intensive programme of international involvement at under-age level "I remember when we went to Moldova at an early age and it was much the same as here with maybe not the crowd but with the state of the pitch and the training pitches.

"So you do get used to it from an early age and you know what to expect when you come to these countries and you really can prepare yourself properly in the build-up to the games so nothing is really a surprise to you. When you get on to the pitch and see the holes and the bumps it is really not much of a shock anymore."

What is a continuing shock to opponents and a huge encouragement to the 23 years old Doherty and his colleagues is the continuing development of Damien Duff.

"Damien is a class act. It's no wonder that all the top Premiership teams are all after him, because he's a one-off really, especially on that left foot. There's not many players like that in the Premiership and I'm sure come the summer, Blackburn will have a tough time keeping hold of him."

Nothing in his career to date had prepared him for the barrage of missiles including a vodka bottle hurled in his direction immediately after he scored his goal in the 86th minute. "That's a first for me, the missile thing. I think I had one thrown at me when I scored the goal and the big worry was the one before they scored, somebody said a knife had been thrown.

"That's a little different from a bottle - a knife can actually hurt you. But I think we'll let that to UEFA and maybe they will punish them.

We got the result and that's all that's important to us."