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Ireland trip is just perfect Wolves tour, says Kenny Jackett

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Kenny Jackett today insisted Wolves' tour of Ireland will be anything but a pain in the grass.

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Jackett will lead a squad of 24 players arriving in Dublin tomorrow for a five-day trip that includes games against Shamrock Rovers on Monday and Bohemians on Wednesday.

Wolves will stay in five-star luxury and train on the pitches the Ireland national team use at Malahide, north of the capital.

And after experiencing poorer quality pitches in Scotland last summer, the head coach is delighted to heading to facilities on a par with their Compton training ground.

"The positives of having a tour in Ireland are the games are very competitive as it's in their mid-season, and training facilities are very good at Malahide United," said Jackett.

"The climate is very similar to ours so it's not too hot to train in.

"Those things coupled with the fact it's easily accessible make it a very good tour."

Wolves have been to Ireland in three out of the last four years and although it's the first time since 2007 they have been to Malahide, it's a facility Jackett knows well.

"We went to Malahide three years on the trot with Millwall, and the national team train there too so we know the tour and the people," he said.

"It's a trip that goes very well, so we know what we're going into as opposed to Scotland last year when we were waiting every day and doing sessions on university pitches nowhere near as good as ours."

Wolves' popularity in Ireland goes back to the days of Derek Dougan and more recently Robbie Keane, then was reinforced by the Mick McCarthy era and the various Irish signings he made.

A large contingent of the Irish Wolves supporters group will be in attendance for training sessions and matches and they will hold their AGM before the Bohs game on Wednesday.

"I'm led to believe Wolves are very popular there – there's a branch of the supporters club going back from the Mick McCarthy days," said Jackett.

"We have Aaron McCarey and Matt Doherty here and there's been players such as Stephen Ward, Stephen Hunt and Kevin Doyle, so there are strong links."

Jackett admitted Wolves have struggled to find a pre-season base to match Compton.

"The benefits are the games and the training facilities, but I'd counter it with quality of Compton," he said.

Wolves, meanwhile, have now completed their final interviews for the vacant Under-21s and Under-18s coaching posts and are expected in announce the new appointments in the coming days.