Colin Doyle hopes he does not have extended wait for next Ireland cap
Colin Doyle left Turkey hoping he does not have to wait another decade or more to collect his third Republic of Ireland cap.
The 32-year-old Bradford keeper started Friday night's 1-0 friendly defeat in Turkey 10 years and 304 days after making his first senior appearance for Ireland against Ecuador in 2007.
Only Alex Stevenson, who went 14 years between caps from 1932 to 1946, has endured a longer lay-off for the Republic, and Doyle is keeping his fingers crossed that the next call comes a little sooner.
He said with a smile: "My wife texted me saying that and I saw the little article. I didn't know that until I saw it. It was funny when I saw it.
"I don't think I'll be waiting another 10 years for my next one because I'll be long retired!
I'm only 32, so for a keeper, they may say that's young. Look, I need to play. Why I wasn't involved years ago was because I was a number two at Birmingham and not playing games.
"You need to be playing and the last three seasons now, I've been playing regular football in the Football League, so I have got back in the squads, which I wanted to do and luckily enough, I got a cap tonight.
"It's been a while, it's been over 10 years. You're always proud when you play for your country, but it was bitter-sweet really because we're disappointed we didn't win the game."
Doyle got the nod in Antalya with number one Darren Randolph rested and Keiren Westwood and Rob Elliot both injured.
His single cap was one more than either Ross County's Aaron McCarey or Manchester United youngster Kieran O'Hara could boast and it was to him that manager Martin O'Neill turned.
Doyle said: "Darren's got the shirt at the moment and he's been fantastic this year - he's definitely been one of the best players in the squad, so there's no reason for him not to play if he's not injured.
"He was rested for this trip to give the others a game, but Westy and Rob were injured, so it was nice to get a game.
"It's a healthy position to be in and hopefully it will continue. Young Kieran [O'Hara] coming through now with the Under-21s, he looks all right as well. He did well over here in training, so it's a healthy spot to be in."
