Promotion For Dashing Dubliner

We are using the day of Matt Doherty’s anticipated return from suspension for the big promotion clash at Cardiff to elevate him into the Legends section of this website.

The Irish defender recently went through the 200-game barrier with the club and is currently 84th in the all-time record appearance makers’ list at Molineux.

And he has two colleagues in his sights as he looks onwards and upwards at what we all hope will be a Premier League future for those in gold and black.

Danny Batth has played 209 Wolves games to stand joint 74th in the list and immediately behind him on 207 comes Carl Ikeme.

Doherty has had an outstanding 2017-18 season and could be a contender for the Player of the Year award he won for his contribution to the 2015-16 Championship campaign.

By scoring the only goal at Ipswich in late January and then a brace in the stabilising 3-0 home victory over Reading in mid-March, he is underlining how his career continues to gather momentum.

And all fans will be delighted to see him back in contention for a place away to second-placed Cardiff tonight after being ruled out in midweek by his sending-off at Middlesbrough last Friday.

The 26-year-old could well add to his match tally at an increasing rate. His first 200 games for the club were strung out across more than seven seasons at considerably fewer than 30 per year.

But he has already had more than 40 senior outings this term, including his debut for the Republic of Ireland as a substitute for captain Seamus Coleman during the latest international break.

The highly impressive right-wing-back was born the day after a significant night in the life of another man who was once associated with the gold no 2 shirt.

Tom Bennett scored only twice in 133 games for the club but the first of those was an absolute belter from a narrow angle in a victory over Charlton at Upton Park on January 15, 1992.

A few hours later, Matthew James Doherty took his first few gulps of air in the outside world.