Doherty is Ireland’s flexible friend
Doherty, an ever-present in Spurs defence in recent months, will win his 23rd cap against the Czechs and, in the absence of several of Ireland’s centre-backs, will have a chance to stake a claim for a place in Ireland’s defence.
He has played most of his international football at centre-forward but may be about to shed his reputation as a utility player. The role of utility player does not appeal to most, but Kerr suggested he welcomed players who had the ability to show flexibility.
“I like players to be adaptable” he said, “Gary has played in defence as substitute and up front for us and it has helped progress his career. Our team captain, Kenny Cunningham, played his early football with Wimbledon at full-back and now he is centre-back with Birmingham and I believe it is important that players can fill in different positions.”
Kerr called up three players to cover for withdrawals and it was not a coincidence that all three have shown their versatility at club level and with Ireland’s under-age teams. John Thompson (Nottingham Forest) and Stephen Kelly (Spurs) have played centre-back and full-back, Liam Miller (Celtic) has played midfield and full-back.
They were added to the squad to compensate for the withdrawal of Stephen McPhail (Leeds Utd), who has a calf muscle injury, and Andy O’Brien (Newcastle Utd), who was forced to miss the Magpies’ game at Bolton on Sunday because of a hamstring problem.
It remains to be seen whether any of the three late additions will be given a first cap against the Czech Republic. It is logical to expect Kerr to use the back-up players in the squad as originally announced, but Miller comes into a special category.
“I had to announce the squad on Monday of last week,” said Kerr, “and at the time Miller had not played any football since December so I did not think he could be in contention.
“I spoke to him two weeks ago and in the past week his circumstances changed because he played for Celtic’s U21 team, then played in part of the match in Barcelona and again against Rangers and I am glad to call him in, because I am anxious to get him in as part of the squad.”
Kerr has six other players who can play in midfield but it will come as no surprise if he sends Miller in for his first cap at some stage. He will certainly be given a chance to show his ability to cope at this level before Ireland open their World Cup programme in September.
Miller expressed surprise at his call-up and he said he had been preparing to play for Celtic’s U21 team against Rangers at Airdrie last night when his telephone rang at 11am at his home in Carfin.
Clubs are entitled to use a couple of overage players - Miller is 22 - in U21 competition and Miller said: “The phone call came out of the blue.
I was just looking to play a few more games for Celtic before the end of the season and international football seemed a long way off.”
Miller will be entitled to a championship medal this season because he has played in the requisite number of matches for Celtic, even if injury kept him out for a long time. He will move to Manchester United on July 1 and, as United are scheduled to play Celtic in the USA soon afterwards, it is possible he will play his first game for United against the Celts.
Just now his mind is on other matters: “It is nice to get the call from Ireland. It was a chaotic week for me from playing against Hibs in an U21 match to playing against Barcelona and then Rangers.
“I was disappointed when injury prevented me from playing for Ireland against Canada and I’m delighted that Brian Kerr has kept faith with me. I’m looking forward to joining the squad.”
Kerr promised experimentation but he stressed his first ambition was to win. “The Czechs will be very, very difficult opposition” he said, “they are a very strong team so I will look to send out a team whose first priority will be to win the match. I do not expect to make wholesale substitutions.”
The Czech Republic can boast the best sequence of results in Europe over the past couple of years. They have not lost since being beaten by Belgium in a play-off for the World Cup finals of 2002 and this will be their 21st match since then. They will be preparing for the European finals in Portugal with a squad very close to full strength, even if Sparta Prague’s Karel Poborsky, the former Manchester United player, withdrew yesterday.
They called up Chelsea’s newest signing, goalkeeper Petr Cech, yesterday and will also have such highly-rated players as Pavel Nedved (Juventus), Milan Baros (Liverpool) and the giant centre-forward Jan Koller (Borussia Dortmund) available.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
