Matt Doherty: 'It wouldn't be the same if the Euros were on in Dublin and Ireland weren't there'

Spurs' Doherty has finally managed to bank some serious game time for his country and he will be the starting right-back tomorrow

Tottenham Hotspur's Matt Doherty during the Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.

Matt Doherty is hoping to cap a fairytale four years by helping the Republic of Ireland qualify for next summer's European Championships with its quota of games at the Aviva Stadium.

The Tottenham Hotspur defender was still plying his trade with Wolves in the Championship back in 2016 when Martin O'Neill took the Republic to the Euros in France. His senior international debut was another two years distant.

Now 28 and settling in to life in North London after his £16m move and working under Jose Mourinho, Doherty has finally managed to bank some serious game time for his country and he will be the starting right-back when they face Slovakia in the playoff semi-final tomorrow.

“As things have gone, the last three or four years have gone almost perfect for me, really,” he said from Bratislava today.

“I wouldn't really change anything really so if this was to happen it would be pretty special, especially considering the games are in Dublin and the atmosphere and hopefully fans there at that stage as well.

The atmosphere in the country would be special. It wouldn't be the same if the Euros were on in Dublin and Ireland weren't there. Yeah, it would be pretty magical if that were the case.

Stephen Kenny has already indicated that he wants his side to be more direct with their passing than against Bulgaria or Finland last month and Doherty spoke of the need for the visitors tomorrow to penetrate higher up the pitch.

Defensive duties will be considerable but that need to be more courageous is a theme that is running through the pre-match chatter and Doherty is clearly comfortable with Kenny's balance of structural certainties and individual responsibilities.

“Look, we obviously have a game-plan, a way that we want to play, a way that we want to press. We want to defend, we want to attack, but at the end of the day, once you're going forward, you've got to let people's natural ability and talent kind of take over.

“We obviously have patterns of play, but if someone wants to do something special and take a few people on and put the ball in the net, you're obviously not going to say no.

“I think what he means in terms of taking responsibility is maybe don't pass it to somebody and let the ball go out wide and get a cross in that way. Maybe take responsibility by beating a man and getting a shot off. I think it's more stuff like that he means by taking responsibility.”

This is only Kenny's second international camp and, while the first failed to deliver the desired results, Doherty put the difficulties involved in playing in what was pre-season into perspective by saying that he was “shattered” after two 90-minute appearances.

Match fitness won't be an issue here. The majority of those likely to start have a comfortable amount of game time under their belts with their clubs and Doherty believes there is enough experience in the ranks to cope even if things don't go to plan from the off.

“Worst-case scenario, you go a goal down, it's not the end of the world. It's a 90-minute game, which is a long time, so there are enough of us in the squad that have enough experience to not panic.

None of us would panic at club level if we were 1-0 down.

“All of us would be saying to each other 'let's stay in the game and see what happens'. So I don't think anybody would be panicking if that is the case. Hopefully it's not, but if a situation like that does happen, I don't think there'll be panic buttons getting pushed around anyway.

“We know we have the quality and ability to go and create goals.”

Doherty seemed to be in the driving seat for the right-back berth this week given he started Kenny's first two games in charge but Seamus Coleman's dodgy hamstring more or less made any decision there to be made for the manager.

But if you thought that would call a temporary halt to the 'Doherty or Coleman' debate then you were wrong. To recap: there is no animosity, they are good mates and mutually supportive regardless of who gets the nod to start.

The pair played together all too briefly in Gibraltar for Mick McCarthy's first game in charge in his second spell over the team but Doherty believes there is no reason why the pair can't dovetail to better and longer effect (forgive the pun) down the line.

“We feel like we can play together. We feel like we're clever enough in our brains and clever enough on the ball to be able to play together but at the end of the day that's not really up to us at all. It's not really something we can do anything about.

“If it does happen then we have to perform on the day so I can't see it happening necessarily in a wing-back situation but you'd never know. If we play four maybe one of us can play out wide or whatever. I guess that won't happen until the next camp anyway.”

Equal pay for equal play?

It wasn't the sort of topic Matt Doherty was expecting on the eve of a vital Euro playoff away from home but, always an open and honest interviewee, the Dubliner gathered his thoughts and eventually spoke his mind.

The topic was match fees and whether the Republic of Ireland women's senior team should receive the same as their male counterparts. As things stand, the men receive roughly €2,000 for a competitive game and about €1,000 for a friendly. The women’s team get €250 per appearance.

Brazil and England have both introduced parity in this regard in recent months. Australia, New Zealand and Norway are others to have done so prior to that. It seems a no-brainer, one small but significant step towards achieving a more equitable balance.

“To be honest, I don't really read any of that stuff. I can't really give you a proper answer on it. I would like to be a bit more educated on it and look into it a bit more and give you a little bit more in depth answer.

“But, I guess, I don't see why not. We're playing for our country, I guess, we're not breaking the bank with fees and stuff like that, so I guess why not?”