Paul Fennessy reports from the Aviva Stadium

MATT DOHERTY paid tribute to Wolves boss Vítor Pereira among others after winning his 50th Ireland cap against Bulgaria on Sunday.

There have been times in the Dubliner’s career, however, when he would be forgiven for suspecting he would never reach this landmark achievement.

Doherty made his Ireland debut at 26, with Seamus Coleman one of the players often ahead of him in the pecking order.

But it got to the stage where his form at Wolves could no longer be ignored, though it was not until the Stephen Kenny era that the ex-Tottenham star became a regular in the side, adding “he was the one that believed in me the most,” while also namechecking the support of Mick McCarthy and Heimir Hallgrímsson.

But even more recently, there appeared to be doubt over whether the Bohemians youth product would make it to 50 appearances.

He seemed to be out of favour for both Wolves and Ireland. It is six months since he was at fault for a crucial goal in Greece’s 2-0 Nations League win in Dublin and five since he was left out of the squad for the return fixture with the Greeks and the trip to Finland.

But now, Doherty is rejuvenated and appears to be a key player again for Ireland and Wolves.

What changed was the arrival of Pereira as the Premier League club’s manager, succeeding Gary O’Neil in the role.

Although he started O’Neil’s last three matches, it was Pereira who had the transformative impact on the 33-year-old.

The Portuguese coach moved Doherty from right wing-back to right-sided centre-back of a three.

Having started just twice in the Premier League this season until the start of December,  he has since made 16 top-flight appearances from the outset.

Not only did he miss out on playing for Ireland in October — Doherty did not play a single minute of competitive action for anyone that month.

Like Irish teammate Jake O’Brien at Everton, he appears to have benefited significantly from a change of club manager.

“I’ve not done a lot differently,” he tells reporters. “Just stay fit. I’ve always said to friends and everybody around me: ‘The best ability is availability. Stay available. Stay ready to go.’

“Vitor came in and saw something that other people didn’t see in the position change for me, which I couldn’t be more grateful for.

“I just love playing in [as a centre-back]. You get loads of touches, you don’t have to fly forward and not get many touches, and then run back, and then fly forward again and not get many touches. You’re constantly in the game.

“Yeah, you have to defend. But it’s given me a new lease of life and I’m loving it.”

Pereira, Doherty adds, instantaneously decided to convert the experienced player into a more defensive role.

“I’ve not trained at wing-back since he arrived. At the very first session, he just changed. He just held a piece of paper to me and said: ‘I think you can play here and here.’ And that was it. And I’ve played in that position ever since.”

Doherty’s newfound confidence is reflected by the Irish team in general.

In the last international window against Bulgaria, the Boys in Green ended a six-year wait for back-to-back competitive wins.

They will look to maintain that form when they face Portugal, Hungary and Armenia in World Cup qualifiers later this year.

Ireland beat Hungary 2-1 in a home friendly last year while drawing away in a 2021 fixture.

They had mixed fortunes in recent match-ups with Armenia, losing 1-0 away and winning 3-2 at home in their 2022 Nations League campaign.

Portugal are expected to be their toughest opponents as top seeds. But Ireland held Cristiano Ronaldo and co 0-0 at home and were lucky to lose 2-1 away in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, though a 3-0 friendly defeat in Aveiro was less encouraging.

Nevertheless, Doherty is optimistic about Ireland’s chances.

“We’re going to have to make sure we get our points against the teams we’re meant to get our points against,” he says.

“I think in the group, there’s not a huge amount to be fearful of. We should go in there full of confidence, really believing in ourselves. Armenia lost heavily [against Georgia on Sunday night]. So come on, we have a real shot at this.

“Momentum in football is huge. And let’s see what happens in the summer. We play Senegal and Luxembourg [in friendlies]. You want to continue going, winning games going into September

“Bulgaria only lost one in 12 before they played us. I mean, why can’t we do something like that? Maybe we’re playing against tougher opposition but we feel, especially in the changing room, that we’re capable of doing something like that.”