Matt Doherty: 'I am a player who needs the crowd back'

After what many described as his finest ever Irish performance, Spurs defender Matt Doherty spoke to the media on Friday about the importance of having fans back in the Aviva and getting a good result.

Ireland were six minutes away from an historic victory on Wednesday, as Portugal had not lost a World Cup Qualifier since September 2016.

However, two world class headers by Cristiano Ronaldo meant that despite the most impressive Irish performance in years, Stephen Kenny’s men left Faro empty handed.

Doherty, who played both Europa Conference League qualifiers for Tottenham, admitted he felt ill during the second half but lasted the full 90 minutes.

“I don't know what hit me,” he said. “My body completely shut down and I had some pains in my stomach.

“I didn't feel great every time I went down. I was really struggling on the inside but managed to kind of crawl my way through the second half.

“I just couldn't bring myself to come off, but I feel a bit better now.”

Doherty said he was looking forward to having fans back in the Aviva Stadium after a 656-day absence.

“I am a player who needs the crowd back. It is a game changer for me when there are fans there and it helps bring us to a different level.

“The home fans will make a big difference for us against Azerbaijan and Serbia and will be a real positive.

“I know it’s not a full stadium but however many are there it will make a positive difference for us.”

When asked about the opposition, Doherty accepted that it will be a different game to Portugal, as Ireland are expected to enjoy more possession and play on the front foot.

“The game plan will be a little bit different to Portugal. We've not actually gone through Azerbaijan as of yet, because of travelling yesterday.

“We'll do our homework on them today. Playing against a low block, even when we're at home, you want to be on the front foot.

“And you want to be dictating the pace of the game. The home factor is a big difference.”

Doherty praised Ireland’s performance on Wednesday also and pointed to the progression this team are making under Stephen Kenny, 14 games into his tenure.

“We looked like we could cause problems every time we broke forward, we were calm on the ball and calm out of possession and didn’t lose our heads.

“We didn’t lose much shape. So that’s progression over the games. We seem to be looking better.

“We seem to be more of a threat each time we go forward so although we lost the game we take confidence from that performance.”