Wolves striker Kevin Doyle was Man of the Match for the Republic of Ireland in the game with World Cup hopefuls Paraguay in Dublin.

Doyle carried on where he left off at Molineux, working away tirelessly and was rewarded with his eighth goal in an Ireland shirt last night.

Such was his determination to score he ended up in the back of the net himself requiring treatment for a couple of minutes.

He said: “I was just knocked up against the post.

“Sore – but when you score a goal you get adrenaline you forget about those things. You take that pain if you get a goal.

“It was just a bruise and I will be fine.”

Ireland went in at half-time 2-0 up and, although the South Americans pulled one back in the second-half, the men in green were always comfortable against a team who built from the back with their traditional passing game.

Doyle said: “It was another decent performance from us and a good win and we are very happy.

“It was a good team effort against a team going to the World Cup who are well prepared. I am sure they were all well up for it and wanted to win tonight.

“For us to play well against them and beat them and beat them reasonably comfortably is another very good performance for us.”

Doyle’s Wolves team-mate, Kevin Foley, joined him on the pitch as a 82nd minute substitute to earn his third cap.

Though Foley was thought to be selected in the squad to compete for the right-back berth, Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni used him wide right where his club boss Mick McCarthy has successfully deployed him this season.

He said: “I’ve played in that role all season for Wolves.

“Trapattoni likes his wide players to get back and defend and that’s what I did.”

Foley has been a regular in the Ireland squad for the last couple of seasons and admitted that this trip, which included a training camp last week, has been harder than normal with a baby back home.

He said: “It has been hard. But that is what you have to do as a professional footballer – it is great to play for my country.”

Doyle is looking forward to Ireland’s next game with Algeria, who are in England’s World Cup group and may give Wolves midfielder Adlene Guedioura his international debut.

He said: “It’s the end of season and the last game, it has been a long, long, long season.

“Hopefully we can play like we did tonight get a result and everyone will be happy, then go away and have three or four week’s holiday.”

The Express and Star also caught Doyle by surprise with news of the team’s pre-season training camp in Dublin and friendly game with League of Ireland side Bohemians.

He said: “Are we I didn’t know that? It is nice to come back and play – it beats travelling.

“We went to Australia last season, which was a bit of a trek.

“It will nice to have a little trip to Ireland and I hope they don’t work us too hard.”