Relegation not affecting Wolverhampton Wanderers' Irish players

Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Kevin Doyle is adamant that the club's relegation isn't getting to the team's Irish players.

Doyle, along with Stephen Ward, Kevin Foley and Stephen Hunt, was part of the Wolves side that suffered relegation from the Premier League last season and all four players have been selected for the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2012 campaign.

Despite dropping out of English football's top flight, Doyle insists that they are in high spirits.

Doyle said: "The opposite. It's a release. It's great to have this at the end of a very tough season, to be able to finish on a high note, hopefully.

"There are four of us from Wolves in the squad and we have all said the same thing. We have had a reason to keep going the last couple of months to make sure we were right for this.

"A few of the Wolves lads were jealous. It has been such a tough season, and they had to go off and try to forget about it. We have got this to be excited about and to have something really brilliant to look forward to."

The Irish find themselves in Group C alongside holders Spain, four-time World Cup winners Italy and Croatia.