Doyle finds home from home in the Wolves’ den

IT has taken time, and perhaps longer than Kevin Doyle would have liked, but at long last the Ireland striker is feeling at home at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Doyle notched his third goal of the season to set up this impressive 1-1 draw at Everton, a game Wolves arguably should have won.

Russian recruit Diniyar Bilyaletdinov ultimately denied them victory but Mick McCarthy, the Wanderers manager, took plenty of positives from the trip to Merseyside, not least the performance of Doyle, who moved to Molineux from Reading in a £6.5million deal.

“Doyle has been a ‘signature’ signing of the summer, our big signing,” he said, “and he has proved to be worth every single penny of the money we paid.

“He is a terrific player and has started to score goals. There will be more, I am delighted with him.”

McCarthy’s joy was shared by the man himself, who has timed his run into form nicely with Ireland’s World Cup play-ff looming large next month.

“I’m pleased with my start at Wolves,” Doyle admitted. “But I missed a lot of pre-season due to an operation and then missed the first few games of the campaign.

“But I’m fit and beginning to play okay. Wolves spent a lot of money on me and now I am able to start repaying them for that.

“It is good to be feeling sharp and getting goals. We have done better against the bigger teams and a point at Everton underlines how we are improving.”

McCarthy was philosophical about the outcome, but was less than impressed by referee Stuart Attwell’s decision to send off Austrian substitute Stefan Maierhofer in the dying minutes, describing it as “harsh bordering on the downright disgraceful”.

The former Rapid Vienna man was first booked after a tangle with Tim Cahill and was then shown a second yellow after an incident involving Toffees goalkeeper Tim Howard, in which the American appeared to have committed the more serious offence.

Everton manager David Moyes did not try to paper over the cracks in another unfamiliar Everton display, the side crying out for the creative play of Mikel Arteta and Steven Pienaar, both of whom will still be missing for Thursday’s Europa League tie away to Benfica.

He said: “It was good to see (Ayegbeni) Yakubu back after injury, he looked as if he was almost at his best, and we needed it because we were not looking as if we would score in a month of Sundays.

“But we have been playing that way for a month or so. We need to get through this and get back to playing with some form and a better style.”

Everton have embarked on a punishing seven-match spell at home and abroad, with injuries still hampering their progress.

“It is a tough schedule, but if you want to be successful you know you are going to have a lot of games,” Moyes added.

“That is what we want, and that is what we have to contend with.

“The travelling for the lads playing international matches this week has been tough, some going to the other side of the world.

“But they are paid well to do so, and they enjoy playing for their national sides. They are also paid well by their clubs, so they have to come back and do it for us, too.”

REFEREE: Stuart Atwell (Warwickshire) 4: Poor decision to send off Maierhoffer, who did little wrong to earn a second booking.

MATCH RATING: ** Dull for 70 minutes but at least the climax was entertaining.