How Matt Doherty flicked the switch to become Premier League class

Turn the clock back little over six months and the question of whether Matt Doherty belonged in the company of England’s elite is one the Wolves defender concedes would have troubled him.

The Dubliner, 27, had to wait seven years from his Premier League debut for his next opportunity in the top flight and, by his own admission, things initially did not go to plan.

Fast forward to the present and the Ireland international proudly reflects on a season to remember.

Victory in tonight’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United would earn Wolves — currently seventh in their first campaign back in the Premier League — a date at Wembley.

Their ascent has been personified by Doherty, who has scored some vital goals along the way — making him a favourite with Fantasy Football managers — and he even beat off competition from the likes of Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard, no less, to be named the PFA Player of the Month for September.

“It’s the best season of my career — stats-wise and because of the league I’m in,” says Doherty, who is in Ireland’s squad for the forthcoming matches against Gibraltar and Georgia.

“People think the step-up is not that big but, having done it, I can say it really is.

“I didn’t start the season that well. I had a few performances that weren’t great and I scored an own-goal against Leicester. When you do that you start to think about things and question yourself. Your confidence isn’t the highest.

“The pace is quick. You’re just thinking ‘this is sharp’. You get the ball and someone is on you straight away. You go through little periods where you’re half-thinking ‘I can’t play here’ — that’s how bad it can get. It’s happened loads of times. But you just get through it.

“It was the West Ham game where something switched — I just played well and that gave me the confidence to say ‘yes, I’m able for this’.

“I guess I’m fortunate that the squad isn’t huge — otherwise I could have been taken out before I was able to play well. But there was nobody really to come into my position. So maybe I was fortunate that I got the time to prove myself. So far I’ve managed to do that and I’ve played most games.”

Praise has been forthcoming from TV pundits, yet there is one critic who is still proving tricky to satisfy — dad Tom, with whom he spent two years working in a carpet cleaning business before moving to Molineux aged 18.

“I watch Match of the Day and sometimes there might be a little praise, but that stuff isn’t really important,” says the ex-Bohemians player. “I know myself — and Dad will tell me. When I call him after the game he’ll tell me all the bad things I’ve done. He’s probably the hardest one to please! He’s my number one fan but also my biggest critic.”

One key factor in his rise has been the transformation of his diet. He is 7kg lighter than three years ago, when his weight reached 95kg and he admits a change in lifestyle was necessary.

“I was vegan for a while, but now I am a pescatarian,” he says. “I didn’t take diet seriously at all. I guess as we were playing League One and Championship at the time, so you think you can still get around. I liked eating whatever I wanted — sweets, fizzy drinks. You think it is nothing but it adds up.

“At the start of last season, it just so happened that we were playing wing-backs and I needed to be in the best shape possible.

“Don’t get me wrong, I will still eat a cake. I am not the strictest person ever. But when you are in this league you need to at it all the time and be right and ready.”

Wolves will head into tonight’s game emboldened by their record against the big six. Liverpool have already been dispatched in this competition, Tottenham and Chelsea defeated in the league, and Arsenal and the two Manchester clubs held.

“When we play against teams outside the top six, they set up to stop us playing, whereas a top-six team will just worry about themselves and that probably gives us a bit more freedom.

“We back ourselves against the big teams. Saturday night with the lights on, you can’t ask for anything better. The atmosphere will be electric and it should benefit us, maybe give us a slight advantage.”