[ad_1]
It was hardly an ideal preparation for Ireland heading into today’s Nations League clash against Wales. Not only did the story continue to unfold about the absence of Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah in Slovakia, but it soon emerged that Ireland had another case of Covid-19 in the field.
One member of the team tested positive and four other players were ruled out as a result. That left Ireland with just 18 players for the Wales games, three of whom were goalkeepers.
Things took a turn for the worse midway through the first half when Kevin Long was forced to leave due to injury. With no other natural center back on the team, Stephen Kenny was forced to use Matt Doherty in the role.
It’s fair to say that things went quite well for him. He did an excellent performance in an unknown position, winning man of the match honors from Sky sports in the process.
Speaking after the game, Doherty said playing the role gave him a greater appreciation for what center-backs do on the team and that he might not shout much at his teammates in that position in the future.
Shane Duffy was the man who played alongside the Spurs player at the heart of the defense and was very impressed with what he saw of his teammate. Speaking to members of the media after the game, he said that Doherty adapted brilliantly to the new position and claimed that he was the one who shouted the most this time.
I thought it was brilliant. It was great, it did everything it had to do. He knows the defensive side of the game and also improves in each game.
It fit very well …
My voice has gone screaming at him! Listen, it’s a completely different role than what you played before.
It’s different, but it’s good for us to know that we can play with him there. Hopefully we don’t need him there because we prefer to have him on the right side.
He did a job for us, kept a clean sheet and I thought he was great. So clean for him.
Despite Doherty’s solid performance, Stephen Kenny will likely hope not to have to use him in this role for Wednesday’s game in Finland.
The severity of Kevin Long’s injury is unclear, but it has been suggested that Dara O’Shea is about to be called up from the U21 team for the game.
SEE ALSO: This Ireland team’s current troubles took hold long before the Kenny era
[ad_2]