Matt Doherty has let his football do the talking in recent months, resulting in an extended run in the Wolves team, while securing a recall into the Ireland squad for this week’s double-header against Bulgaria.
Doherty was part of the side that defeated Southampton at the weekend to help push Wolves further clear of the relegation zone, now nine points ahead of Ipswich and Leicester with nine games remaining.
Operating in a back three under new Wolves manager Vitor Pereira, Doherty has cemented his place in the side and has featured in 22 of 29 Premier League games.
As a result, Doherty and Jake O’Brien were the two players called into the squad to cover the right-side of the defence, with long-term international captain Seamus Coleman omitted this time around.
Doherty, of course, was left out of the squad in October last year, where the manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said that he was "testing other players…looking for a Plan B".
By Hallgrimsson’s admission, the Dubliner was not happy being left out and Doherty went on to express his disappointment, [speaking to The42](https://www.the42.ie/matt-doherty-ireland-2-6520692-Oct2024/), believing that he was disrespected by the manager.
As things transpired, Doherty returned to the squad for the November international window, after receiving a late call-up, and started the home victory over Finland.
And speaking to the media ahead of the team’s departure for the Plovdiv fixture on Thursday, Doherty said that he still stands by his previous comments, while adding that they were in the past and that he currently has a good relationship with Hallgrimsson.
"I stand by the comments I made at the time," said Doherty. "It was obviously a long time ago and a lot has kind of passed since then. At the moment we have a good relationship, and everything seems to be fine.
"We haven't spoken too much. We cleared things up I think the last time I was in camp, so everything seems fine now.
"You want to be in every squad as a player, it's natural to think that. Obviously, I was disappointed at the time, which I said, but I have managed to work my way back in so it's all good now."
**"**When it comes to criticism, I don't care too much about the criticism," he added when asked about how it affected him.
"I did an interview a few weeks ago where I said I would rather take the criticism over some of the younger players. I know I'm able to handle the criticism, so that's fine by me."
Sitting alongside Doherty at the St Patrick’s Day press conference, assistant head coach John O’Shea said that it all comes down to how players are performing on the pitch.
"Look, it’s straight forward, once Matt is playing and playing well, it’s the key," said O’Shea.
"He’ll know that himself, he’s a totally different animal when he’s playing football. You can see that now, when playing for Wolves. When we have that Matt, he’s always going to be in this squad, simple as that."
Speaking about [this window's late call-ups](https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0317/1502496-manning-and-moran-called-up-for-bulgaria-double-header/), Andy Moran and Ryan Manning, O’Shea said it was great to have the two players in having just missed out on the original squad.
"We have always spoken about a very competitive squad and very tight calls," said O’Shea.
"Andy, he's just out of the team at the minute but he's had loads of minutes with Stoke, and Ryan getting back into that Southampton team as well, really tight calls and we're delighted to have the two lads in."