Kevin Doyle: Striking for the top

SOME of what Giovanni Trapattoni likes to call his “famoose names” might be absent for Ireland in Thomond Park this evening but present and very much correct will be Kevin Doyle.

The man who scored the first goal in Cyprus on Saturday had a forgettable time on his last trip to Limerick when he suffered an injury setback as the Irish crashed 3-0 to Australia. But, while others who played in Nicosia have been given a chance to put their feet up, the Wolves man is happy to get some more game time under his belt as he continues to put an injury-ravaged few months behind him.

“The game against Hull last month was my first 90 minutes since March when I was still playing for Reading,” he points out, “so it has been an annoying and frustrating time. Last season, I had just got myself fit for the play-offs and came back for the new season thinking I was fit with Wolves – and then I found I needed a hernia operation.