Kevin Doyle: 'When I play against Chelsea that seems to me to be just as tough as when I was playing against Ireland's top teams'

Which is unlikelier? A team emerging from a 135-year history in the lower divisions to take the Premiership by storm and so qualify for Europe, or a player emerging from a four-year history in the Irish League to take the Premiership by storm and so become one of its most prolific marksmen? Kevin Doyle analyses the above and tries to arrive at the answer before shrugging his shoulders. "Perhaps we're just made for each other," he says, looking over Reading's training ground.

The name of the Berkshire complex is Hogwood, although it might more aptly be Hogwarts, what with the end-of-term feel, all those tricks going on out there and, yes, that big rabbit known as the Uefa Cup threatening to be pulled out of the hat. It is plainly not the atmosphere one would expect at a club a couple of wins away from the required top-seven finish to carry them to undreamt of competition. Where there should surely be tension, there seems only excitement; where there could be scowls of intent, only smiles of "whatever". Doyle takes just the two words to explain why. "Steve Coppell," he says.

Rather controversially, the Reading manager has been on the minus side of nonplussed as Europe has come into focus, a startling sight that could be all but confirmed with victory at home to Watford today. In short, Coppell would prefer his first-season wonders not to achieve the unthinkable now, but to wait a few seasons until the squad is both big enough and ready enough. Naturally, as a competitor, Doyle is somewhat at odds with this line of thinking.

"There is not a player alive who would not want to qualify for Europe," he says, before going on to outline Coppell's reasoning is no bad thing. "Steve's attitude is great for us lot as this is basically a pressureless end to the season. It's not like at say, Spurs, where qualification is basically demanded of their players, compulsory, if you like. Here it'd be just a bonus. Of course, we want to finish with two wins and keep the form going into next season. But if we don't, well, nobody's going to break down and cry or have months of sleepless nights."

Doyle could be forgiven for doing so, though, if only to allow his mind to race through two years in which his rise has been even more stunning than Reading's. In June 2005, Doyle was turning out in the Eircom League when John Madejski finally nailed down Cork City to a £78,000 transfer fee. Nice business. Eighteen months later the Royals chairman reportedly turned down from Aston Villa the princely sum of £5m, roughly 64 times what he had paid for the blond striker. Canny business. Four months on, the 23-year-old is worth at least £7m as his stock soars as highly as his name does up those Premiership scoring charts. With 12 goals, it would be fair to say that Doyle is "the find of the season" if it was not for the fact that he was "the find of last season" as well. Better to say that this uncovered gem continues to scrub up ever brighter.

Unsurprisingly, the day he was dug out of that Munster turf takes a significant berth in his memories. "Some say Steve came to watch me five times, but I think it was just three times. Someone would whisper to me, 'He's here again' and I was grateful for it because every other time it'd be a scout, not a manager. I can understand why Steve ummed and ahhed because I didn't play too well, to be honest, but I scored in all the games he saw and I just hoped that would be enough. The story goes that he only decided after five or so Guinnesses, but whatever, I'm so grateful. At that stage, I was 21, going on 22 and if he hadn't given my chance then I'm not sure anyone would have. Let's just say, I'm glad he had those few beers."

Fitting enough for someone of his nationality, alcohol has played a part in his formation, not in the negative but in the glass half-full sense. When he was 16 he had the choicemany of his young countrymen are confronted with, but instead of following what he calls "99 per cent of the majority" across the Irish Seato become an apprentice he opted for Wexford and the family pub. "It was a conscious plan," he recalls. "I realised I was a big home boy and wouldn't last very long in England and now I can see I was right. It's a tough life for the 15, 16-year-olds, giving up school to come over to another country and cleaning boots, living in digs and all that, only to be told you're being released after two years. In fact, I wouldn't have lasted six months and that would have been that then; another boy who wasn't good enough to make it, a slur that would likely have stuck. No, my view was that if I wasn't good enough to crack it in Ireland then I wouldn't be in England. So I finished school and worked in the pub."

At this juncture it would be easy to think of the barman turned star man re-entering Cooper's Inn to a resounding cheer. But although there are plenty of shirts and pictures of the famous son on the wall, the locals do not fall off their stools in the race to greet him.

"There's some right characters in there I can tell you," Doyle says with a grin. "But I'm not sure they liked me, as I would stop serving right on time and lay down the law to get them out early. Closing time is a bit of a loose concept where I'm from and my brother would let them stay on for a few extras. He runs the place now and I still go there, have some food and a laugh with the regulars. I suppose they regard me as their own, although they're no different with me. Nobody in Ireland really is."

Doyle might be in for a shock when he returns in the summer as, since he was last there, the club shirt with his name on has become the biggest Premiership seller in the Republic. "I'm told that it's Reading jerseys everywhere and I'm looking forward to the whole bloody randomness of seeing someone I don't know wearing my shirt - 'Doyle, No 9'. That'd be bloody mental, scary really. Last year, you couldn't buy one over there and people were ringing me to send them over. The sports shops have cottoned on now."

It would surely have been bankruptable not to, as if Doyle's exploits at Reading did not grab them by the blarneys, then a few match-winning performances for the national side just must have. "In truth, when I made my debut [against Sweden, in March 2006] I wasn't even expecting to be playing in the first-choice Reading team by then, never mind for Ireland. But then there's a lot I haven't expected."

What plainly still staggers Doyle most of all is that "leading score list" he features in so predominantly. "It's still mad and no it hasn't sunk in. When I was joint-leading scorer before Christmas I had to persuade my brother not to take a photo with his mobile of the chart off Sky Sports News as I didn't want to think it was a fluky one-off. But when I got my hamstring injury in January, I knew I'd be out awhile and I thought that's it, I'll drop off it now. But a couple of goals have got me back up there and it's all a bit surreal again. Here we are, in one of the best leagues in the world and my name's above people like Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and all these. It's honestly something I never even imagined as a kid and it definitely gives you confidence. It can give you the creeps, too."

This is the side of Doyle that is most endearing and the one most likely to ensure that this blessedly unaffected rarity does not crash and burn. "I have this terrible thought in the back of my mind that it will all be over as quickly as it's begun and, although I've got a new contract and know the club have faith in me and everything, it's still there. I've seen it before, we all have. So many players have come and done really well in their first season or two and then a few years later someone mentions 'em down the pub and it's, 'Oh yeah, whatever happened to him?' Well, I don't want that to happen to me, but appreciate how easily it could if I don't keep my head down and carry on working hard. It's to do with luck as well, though, and that's why I've never let myself believe that fate will always be kind to me."

Is that an inevitable hangover from the tragic days when, as a nine-year-old, he watched his brother, Bernard, die of cancer at 21? "I don't know whether it's because of what happened to my brother or not," Doyle replies, "but I've always had the outlook that 'You can die tomorrow, so make the most of it while you're here'. And I don't mean make the most of it as like go out and party every night and grab every hour of fun you can, but to make the most of what you are and what life's giving you. I try to do that, although my girlfriend would tell you that I'm sleeping half my life away on the sofa in the afternoon. That's part of my training, I tell her, part of my recovery."

Doyle laughs as he thinks back to Cork and, before that, St Pat's. He is happy to have those experiences and hopes that other young greenshirts might take the same route, not least because he believes it to be one that is perfectly viable. Irish football is often pilloried as bony knees above rolled-down socks splattered in mud and blood, but Doyle is a fierce defender of his roots.

"It's probably down to my weird make-up or how I can quickly adapt or something, but I haven't found it that massive a difference over here. You know, I'd love to go back and play in the Eircom League just to gauge what the standard is really like, because when I play against Chelsea that seems to me to be just as tough as when I was playing against Ireland's top teams. I know the players are obviously stronger, fitter, faster and more skilful here, but that's just how I found it and my scoring strike rate bears this out. It's basically been the same.

"Now, what is massively different is the pressure. When you're in the Premiership everyone here and in Ireland and wherever knows what you're doing and not just whether you scored or not but everything. With ProZone here now nobody misses anything and then there's Match of the Day, live games on Sky, delayed live games on Sky, Goals On Sunday and so on and so on. It's a scary thought when you're picking your nose or something that everyone could be watching it or will be very soon."

He is dealing with it, all right, and so too are Reading; as Doyle might say "scarily" so. He credits the values Coppell has imbued in the team as "our X-Factor" and reveals how they will remain so. "Steve showed faith in us and we've repaid him. Last summer he could have had a clear-out but didn't and here we are at the same stage as last season with almost the same starting XI. That's unbelievable, isn't it? He just told us to go out there, enjoy it, work hard and we'll improve. And that's what we've done. Personally, I'm petrified to reach a level and think, 'Well, that's it'. It's like the club. We don't want all that second-seasonitis shite next year; we actually want to do better. I know that's difficult, for me as well as this club, but that's got to be the aim. We've come this far, after all." Doyle and Reading - made for each other, indeed.

High jumpers: Hidden gems who have leapt into the limelight

* SHANE LONG Part of the deal that took Kevin Doyle to Reading from Cork City in 2005. Long had played for the Eircom League side just twice. Since joining the Royals at 18, Long has won a Championship winners' medal and has played in the Premiership 20 times, scoring twice. He made his debut for Republic of Ireland in February against San Marino.

* JAY DEMERIT Played for the University of Illinois from 1998 to 2001 but was ignored by Major League Soccer sides after graduation. In 2003 he moved to England aged 23 and joined Southall Town. Moved to Northwood in 2004 where he impressed in a friendly against Watford. Earned a one-year deal after a two-week trial and is now a first-team regular.

* D J CAMPBELL Starred in Yeading's run to the third round of the FA Cup in 2005. They were eliminated by Newcastle United but Martin Allen paid £5,000 to take him to Brentford in June 2005. Campbell's stay at Griffin Park was only seven months long as the forward moved to Premiership Birmingham City in January 2006 for £500,000.

* MATT DERBYSHIRE Scored 18 goals in nine appearances for Lancashire side Great Harwood Town in 2003 aged 17, enough to convince Blackburn to sign him for a nominal fee in April that year. Made his debut against Fulham in May 2005 but had loan spells at Plymouth Argyle and Wrexham last season before impressing this term with eight goals in 14 starts.