KEVIN DOYLE WAS Ireland’s supersub on an Astana night which nearly ended in disaster but admitted afterwards that he needs top-level football if he is to work his way back into Giovanni Trapattoni’s plans.
The Wolves striker volleyed home the 90th-minute winner — his first competitive international goal since October 2011 — as Ireland got out of jail with a 2-1 win in their opening World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan.
Introduced as a substitute for Simon Cox shortly before the hour mark, Doyle was instrumental to Ireland’s comeback, creating the move which won Robbie Keane’s 89th-minute penalty before scoring the late, late winner.
Afterwards he said that while the goal was nice, he will need to do more to win back his place in the starting line-up.
“It’s nice. It was a while coming so I’m delighted,” he told RTÉ’s Tony O’Donoghue.
It’s a consequence of me getting relegated last year at Wolves. I can’t be expecting to be getting picked for Ireland when there’s two or three lads playing ahead of me in the Premier League every week. That’s my own problem, my own fault and I’ve to get back playing at the highest level as soon as possible.
And while disappointed with the team’s performance, Doyle said that the evening could have been a whole lot worse.
“We struggled all night. It was very difficult. To be fair to them, they played better than I thought they were. They were decent but we should be playing better than that.
“At least we got the win. A good start to the group, it could have been very different but a win is a win.”
