Soccer:Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is confident record signing Kevin Doyle will be unaffected by speculation linking him with other Premier League clubs. Doyle cost €7.1 million when he made the move from Reading to Molineux last summer and has quickly made a big impression with the Midlands club.
He has netted six goals during the current campaign but also led the attack effectively as the only out-and-out striker in recent games. The Republic of Ireland player has been linked with Everton and Sunderland, following on from reports that Aston Villa were keen to sign him last summer.
But McCarthy is confident Doyle will retain his focus for the battle for survival as his side prepare for Saturday’s bottom four meeting with Burnley at Turf Moor. McCarthy said: “Speculation does not bother me and it will not bother Doyley. He will just get on with his job like he always has done.
“I don’t think it will interfere with his performances at all. It is just part and parcel of football. If you have a great season, then people talk about you going, here, there and everywhere. It is kind of flattering but you just get on with your job.
“Kevin has been excellent for us since he came here and proved to be worth every penny we spent on him.”
Doyle is heartened by the news that McCarthy will bring in major signings if Wolves manage to stay in the top flight. He said: “The manager has said to me, and a good few of us, that if we stay up this season there will be a lot of strengthening and adding to the squad in the summer.
“That is all the players want here. If we sign another striker in the summer, that’s competition for me. Hopefully that will push me, Sylvan (Ebanks-Blake) and other people on again.
“The aim for all of us is to stay in the Premier League and improve and push on massively.”
McCarthy has urged his players to repeat the kind of performance which saw them lose by a single goal to Manchester United last weekend.
He said: “We didn’t need picking up from the weekend. We were disappointed not to get anything from the game and now they have just gone and slapped Milan in the Champions League.
“We got a real boost of confidence from playing so well against them and the challenge now is to try and reproduce that kind of performance.”
McCarthy has no fresh injury worries ahead of the game at Turf Moor, the first of three successive away matches with Aston Villa and West Ham next on the horizon.