Pressure still on to avoid drop, insists Doyle
“I wish the pressure was off but we’re not safe,” he says, ahead of Sunday’s game against Stoke at Molineux. “I was in a situation with Reading a few seasons ago where we said with five or six weeks to go that one win and we would be fine. We got that win on the last day of the season and we still went down on goal difference. We are a few points away from it now and it’s in our own hands. We probably do need two more wins and hopefully we get them sooner rather than later. We certainly don’t want it going down to the last game of the season.”
The 26-year-old Irish striker has been earning plaudits for his lone striker role as Wolves bid to secure their Premiership status for another season and it’s a challenge he says he relishes.
“It has been tough but I have really enjoyed it,” he says. “I played up front on my own before for one off games but this has been since Christmas really. A lot of teams are now playing one up front so it’s good for me as an individual to learn about it.”
Does he think it has made him a better player?
“It’s not just that but how we train and how we work, all that has brought me on. The expectation of it and having to live up to the reputation as the club’s record signing has brought a lot more out of me. I feel fitter, stronger and more experienced.
“That first season with Reading was just a freak season for everybody involved with the club. It was not easy but everything fell at our feet in the league. I got plenty of goals that year but this season I have had to work for every goal, chance and performance and I really appreciate it.
“What you put in, you get back out of it. It’s been tough but really enjoyable. I wanted to really show what I could do. And I want to finish it off now in the last four weeks of the season. Then I can enjoy the summer knowing that I am in the Premier League when I am on a beach.”
Aye, but there’s the rub: the Wexford lad will be on holidays – on his honeymoon, in fact – rather than in South Africa.
“I have totally forgotten about Paris and got it out of my system but the World Cup will liven it all up in my head again, I suppose,” he reflects. “I will watch it though. I said at the time that I would not watch it but I have watched every World Cup since I was a kid so I will watch this one. Hopefully it will give me the hunger to be there in four years’ time
“I will keep an eye on France to see how they do in it. I hope they do well so it will show how well we could have done. It will be interesting to see. Whether we feel hard done by or not, it’s something to look forward to.”
And will the much-admired Kevin Doyle still be at Wolves when the new season opens?
“I think if I am there I will be very happy,” he says. “I just want to finish this season strongly – I know it’s corny – and be in the Premier League when the season ends. I honestly have no thoughts about anything like that. I have just really enjoyed the last six months, win or lose. It’s not nice being beaten but I have enjoyed the games and the experience.”
But longer-term, Doyle makes no bones about the fact that he’d love to experience European club competition – and, let’s face it, it’s hard to see Mick McCarthy’s team gatecrashing the Champions’ League any time soon.
“You would not imagine so in the next couple of seasons, no,” Doyle smiles. “You never know. But every player wants to try to get to that level. Not everybody can and you just don’t know in your career. That’s why you work hard when you go back pre-season and why I will work even harder next season. I want to get to that level and maybe when I am 31 or 32 then maybe I will stop thinking I can get there. But between now and then I will do everything I can to get to that level.”
Kevin Doyle was speaking at the launch of An Post 2010 Summer Soccer Schools. For bookings and information see www.summersoccerschools.ie or call 1890653653.
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