A ‘dream’ at Wolves for Matt Doherty
Monday 26th September 2011, 11:05AM BST.
Wolves rookie Matt Doherty today admitted he half expected his “dream” week would end in the reserves.
The 19-year-old right-back made his Premier League debut as a half-time substitute in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Liverpool and was his side’s man of the match.
The boyhood Arsenal fan, a bargain £70,000 signing from Bohemians 14 months ago, only signed a new three-year deal last week.
But Doherty is still geared up to play in the reserves, who face Wigan at AFC Telford tonight.
He said: “It’s been the best week of my life – I had to ring my dad on Saturday night to tell him I played.
“To get my Premier League debut at Anfield was a dream. I thought I did well enough when I came on and I was happy with my performance.
“When I was on the pitch it felt so good – I just thought ‘this is what I want to do’ and play like that every game.
“I only signed my contract on Monday, played a full game on Tuesday and then half a match at Anfield on Saturday.
“But we’ve got a reserve game tonight and I might be involved in that. I always train with the reserves and then the gaffer calls me over if they need me.
“I will do whatever the gaffer tells me – I just want to play games whether that’s here or on loan.”
Doherty’s chance only came because Richard Stearman went off with a sore toe.
The Republic of Ireland under-19 international didn’t even have time to receive any instructions from McCarthy.
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This lad has to play! He played very well on Sat and deserves a chance
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Well Wolves should make sure Stearmans toe gets rested, till the end of the season should do it :-)
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Have we got another youngster to replace Berra?
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I’ve seen him in both games he’s played and he looks a real prospect. A solid defender. I think he deserves a chance at RB on Sat as Stearman looks out of sorts there and Zubar and Foley are injured. At 19, I think tying him down to a new deal was good business, as he could be a fixture in the team soon.
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