MATT DOHERTY insisted there is no bad blood with boss Heimir Hallgrímsson for disrespecting him last year.
Doherty, 33, is this week preparing for Ireland’s Nations League promotion-relegation play-off with Bulgaria – with the first leg in Plovdiv on Thursday.
But his place is far from guaranteed as he has been left out of teams, and the squad, by new boss Hallgrímsson this season.
Doherty was selected for his first game in charge against England last September but then dropped for Andrew Omobamidele for the game with Greece.
And, having also lost his place with Wolves, he was then left out of the squad entirely for the October clashes with Finland and Greece, before returning to the panel the following month.
When axed last year, Doherty admitted his annoyance and told the42 that he told Hallgrímsson he felt “disrespected” when centre half Omobamidele was picked ahead of him.
He then told the42: “We spoke about a few things. He thought, it looked like in his eyes that he thought I felt disrespected in the last camp.
“I said to him ‘Yeah, I felt disrespected in the last camp’ because in the second game, he was playing a centre back at right back ahead of me.”
But, having returned to the squad in November and faced Finland, Doherty said there is no ill feeling anymore.
He said: “I stand by the comments I made at the time. It was obviously a long time ago and a lot has kind of passed since then.
“At the moment we have a good relationship and everything seems to be fine.
“We haven’t spoken too much. We cleared things up I think the last time I was in camp, so everything seems fine now.
“You want to be in every squad as a player, it’s natural to think that.
“Obviously I was disappointed at the time, which I said, but I have managed to work my way back in so it’s all good now.
Assistant head coach John O’Shea also insisted there is no issue.
He said: “Look, it’s straight forward, once Matt is playing and playing well, it’s the key.
“He’ll know that himself, he’s a totally different animal when he’s playing football. You can see that now, when playing for Wolves.
“When we have that Matt, he’s always going to be in this squad, simple as that.”
