Wolves striker Kevin Doyle would rather be playing in the World Cup next month than getting married.

But it’s nothing against long-term fiancee Jennifer Harney, who the club record signing ties the knot with in Limerick on June 11 – the day the tournament kicks off in South Africa.

As the striker prepares to play for his country in Dublin for the first time since Thierry Henry’s controversial handball helped dump Ireland out of the World Cup against Paraguay tonight, it’s all to do with wanting to prove himself on the biggest footballing stage of all.

He said: “I would prefer to be going to the World Cup – my fiancee won’t mind me saying that.

“But the wedding is the day the World Cup starts, so it’s something to take my mind off that. I’m getting married on June 11, so I can thank Thierry Henry for that!

“Missing out on South Africa is not the end of the world though – I still have a chance in four years time.

“But I really thought it was an opportunity, at 26, to show what I could do with a top manager and some really good players and to have a good World Cup.”

Doyle insists his heartache of missing out on the World Cup is over as the team play in Dublin for the first time since Paris tonight.

The Wolves striker is expected to play some part of the friendly– possibly with Molineux team-mates Kevin Foley and Andy Keogh – as memories finally begin to fade of their unpunished double handball by Henry and defeat in the play-off last November.

When it happened, Doyle was so bitter he said he wouldn’t watch the tournament in South Africa, but has since changed his mind and even wants France to do well, because he feels it will reflect well on Ireland.

But after getting knocked out, the 26-year-old arranged a very different and bigger match – bringing his wedding forward a year, ironically to the day the World Cup starts.

And Doyle won’t have a heavy heart at missing out on the biggest show on earth.

He said: “That’s over. I don’t want to be bitter for the rest of my life. I’ve totally forgotten about Paris and got it out of my system.

“The break will fill the gap. It’s a bigger break than I would normally expect. So I’ll watch the World Cup in its entirety. That will make me want to go to it more in the future.

“Hopefully it will give me the hunger to get back there again in four years’ time. I want to qualify for the next one and if I get a chance and I’m playing well in the squad, I’ll get another opportunity.

“I’m looking forward to it – it’s going to be a good summer. I hope France do well because it will show what we could have done.

“I’ll look forward to it. I hope we all will.”

Now the wounds are not so raw, Doyle is far more philosophical about missing out.

He said: “I was pretty bitter for the first week or two but I’ve accepted it now.

“I think if it was the other way around, an Irish player would be a hero in Ireland for doing the same thing.”

In fact, Doyle is looking forward to turning into an armchair fan for a change and seeing the best players in the world parade their talents.

He said: “I love watching great players and Lionel Messi is like a player on a computer game. He can do whatever he wants.

“He’s easily the best player in the world now, so I’m looking forward to seeing him and others.”

Doyle was included in the second part of Giovanni Trapattoni’s training squad which met up in Malahide and is likely to feature tonight and the other game against Algeria on Friday.

After a long and gruelling season, the former Reading striker is just relishing the chance of a complete break after this week is out of the way.

He said: “I’ve had a couple of weeks off before these two internationals, then it’s summer for me. Some of the lads such as Kevin Foley and Andy Keogh met up a week before us which was a relief to me because it’s been a long season.

“Every few days we can get off extra makes a big difference. I’ve been home relaxing and just enjoying not doing a whole lot to be honest.

“The wife-to-be is doing all the wedding arrangements – I just agree with everything!”

After the summer lay-off, Doyle’s international attentions will turn to the European Championship qualifiers, which kick off in Armenia on September 3.

He said: “I think the group is reasonably OK. It’s a lot fairer than the group we had to put up with for the World Cup qualifiers.

“We’ll be positive and confident going into that campaign, hopefully we get what we deserve and qualify.”

Talk of interest from other clubs such as Arsenal appears to be the last thing on his mind.

He said: “I’ve been linked with Chelsea in the past, so Arsenal is another one to add to my list.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to try my luck in the Champions’ League one day and I’d have faith in my own ability to play at that level if the chance came my way, but I want to point out I’m very happy at Wolves.

“In many ways playing for one of the top sides in Europe is not a million miles away from what I’ve been doing with Ireland in the last few years, it may even be easier to play alongside guys you train with every week and form a close bond with.

“Maybe it will come my way one day. But you can’t allow speculation linking you with big clubs to go to your head, as it would be easy to get carried away.”