The 29-year-old has struggled to establish himself as a regular at Spurs since joining the club in the summer of 2020, and is yet to start a single Premier League match this season.
However, Doherty’s struggles at club level have not hindered his chances of playing for his national team, the Republic of Ireland, and he is currently part of Stephen Kenny’s squad gearing up for World Cup qualifiers against Portugal and Luxembourg.
Former Dundalk boss Keegan has insisted that Doherty has played well every time has been given a chance but stressed he enjoys a level of freedom and confidence while playing for his country that he does not have at his club.
Keegan feels Doherty is a good addition to Kenny’s options at right-back and is of the view he should be playing against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal on Thursday.
“Matt Doherty is certainly playing well; I suppose while not getting a huge amount of chances with Spurs”, Keegan told Off The Ball, while discussing who should play for Ireland in the right-back role.
“But he looks to have a level of freedom and a level of confidence when he pulls on an Irish shirt that is way above what he is doing at Tottenham at the moment.
“So, would you like to see him in the side [against Portugal]? You would.”
Doherty played as a substitute for Spurs on Sunday in their goalless Premier League draw away at Everton under new boss Antonio Conte and he will be hoping the Italian will be handing him more game time as the season progresses.
