His only club goal came in the Carling Cup win over Notts County in mid September.

But McCarthy is full of praise for Doyle’s contribution in a 4-5-1 formation and believes the goals will start to come.

He said: “Kevin does a real, tough, difficult job, playing up front on his own as well as anyone in the Premier League.

“He wants to score and there might be times when I have a little chew at him because he has a shot and maybe could have done something else and kept the ball for us.

“But he occupies two centre-halfs, and sometimes an entire back four some matches, and allows the rest of us to play.

“He competes for everything and he will get to double figures in terms of goals this season.

“I’d put money on him doing that. Others might get the plaudits for goals but he gets plaudits from me and his team-mates for his performances.”

Doyle was the club’s top scorer with nine goals last season after his club record £6m move from Reading.