Meet Ireland’s two newest old boys

Matt Doherty and Jonny Hayes might be the two new boys on the block in the Irish squad but both already have plenty of senior football experience under their belts.

The 24-year-old Doherty, a natural right-back who operates in the left-hand berth at Wolves, was spotted when the Molineux side played Bohemians in a friendly four years ago, later reuniting with manager Pat Fenlon during a loan spell at Hibs in the SPL.

It’s taken a bit longer for Doherty’s fellow Dubliner, Jonny Hayes, now 28, to reach Scottish football’s high land — with stops at Reading and Leicester along the way — but, after impressing at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the winger has now established himself as a key figure at Aberdeen as they challenge Celtic for this year’s SPL title.

Doherty has certainly put the work in to facilitate the move from right to left, even in his downtime at home.

“If I’m ever just walking around the house, with the ball, it’s just left-foot touches, the coaching my dad told me to do,” he explains. “I’ve practised a lot but I still cut in a lot and use my right foot. The first couple of games I really felt uncomfortable but it’s like anything, once you keep at it and keep doing it you progress at it and start enjoying it more and once you’re enjoying it more, you’re feeling more confident.”

Not, as it turns out, that he was always a right-full. “No, I was actually a striker (laughs). I’ve played every position, even goals when I was playing seven-a-side. But I am a defender who likes to attack and that attacking thing was ingrained in me growing up.”

For Jonny Hayes, the summer might have involved attending France 2016 as a fan, if the finals didn’t clash with early European qualifiers for Aberdeen.

“We actually enquired about booking a villa,” he smiles. “Me and my friends got the okay from the missus to go.” Suddenly, with his call-up for these friendlies, the chance of going there as a player has come into view, but he’s experienced enough in football to be keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“It’s a completely different world, a European Championship or playing in early European qualifiers — I know which one I’d prefer,” he says. “But it’s a long, long way away. I’m realistic enough about that. But being in the squad is a step in the right direction.”

And one that’s been quite a while in coming. ”It’s only in the last 18 months or two years that I can look back and think ‘I am doing alright now’, and wonder where did the years go? Back when I was at Reading and Leicester, I spent a few years floating around.

“You look at someone like Jonathan Walters, coming in at a late age — a few players have done that. There’s a small chance it could happen and if it’s there you have to try and take it.”

Meanwhile, Hayes has been regaling his new colleagues with the ultimate shaggy dog story from last month — the one about how he got bitten and was treated by a specialist called Mr Barker.

”I was telling the boys the story on Sunday night and there were a few laughs, questions about why I didn’t volley the dog. It wasn’t my dog. I had to tell the physio, ‘I won’t be in today.’ I had to tell him I was in A&E as I had been bitten by a dog.

“It took a couple of days for them to believe it, but I managed to play a couple of days later (against Celtic, during which he scored a memorable goal). I had a cast on it but we won the game 2-1 so it was a lucky charm.”