Matt Doherty: I fancied Wolves for title all along

The Irishman bagged a double in Wolves’ 3-0 cruise past Reading on Tuesday to bounce back emphatically from their chastening defeat at Villa last weekend.

And the 26-year-old Dubliner has now challenged his team-mates to go on and finish the job and seal the club’s return to the Premier League.

Doherty was one of the few to emerge with any credit from Villa Park and his brace against Reading cemented him as one of Wolves’ most consistent performers this season.

And he said: “I’ve been saying it from about the third game of the season to be honest. I think we played Derby or Hull, played really well, and I said ‘Lads, I fancy us to go all the way’.

“I haven’t been wrong yet – we just need to keep going in the next few games and really seal it.”

Doherty believes Wolves have answered their critics – on and off-field – in the best possible way following a week of sniping from some Championship rivals about Wolves’ relationship with super-agent Jorge Mendes. “Teams have done a lot of talking but at the end of the day we’re 10 points clear of third so we’ve done our talking on the pitch,” he added.

“There’s been no panic in our changing room at all.

“Even before the Reading game started it was seven (points) and with a decent goal difference that’s still a handy lead with fixtures coming up.

“I firmly back us to go ahead and do it.”

Doherty’s double made it four for the season so far and asked when the last time he scored a brace, he laughed: “When I was about nine probably! When I used to be a striker. It’s been a long time. Ireland Under-21s maybe, I played midfield and scored twice against the Faroe Islands – that counts doesn’t it?”