Ward ready for 'great experience'

24 March 2009 15:38
Not only is he intent on helping his new club win promotion to the Premier League, he may be about to make his international debut for Northern Ireland. Ward, 22, is due to link up with the squad ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Poland on Saturday and Slovenia next Wednesday, both at Windsor Park. After making regular appearances for the Under-21 side, he said: "It will be a great experience." Ward will arrive in Belfast full of confidence after stepping off the bench and scoring in United's 3-0 defeat of Cardiff at Ninian Park on Sunday. That stretched their unbeaten run to seven games and he said: "We are on a roll and people must watch out for us. "We are still going for the top two and remain confident. But we know it will be important to maintain our discipline. "We were delighted to get all three points at Cardiff. We kept our foot on the gas throughout." Ward arrived at Bramall Lane in January from League Two Chesterfield where he scored 16 goals in 29 games. Standing 5ft 5ins tall and weighing at around 130 lbs, he has had to battle hard to get to the Championship after starting out as a trainee at Aston Villa. A loan spell at Stockport was followed by a move to Torquay, where he caught the eye in a struggling side. Ward was delighted to get his second goal for United on Sunday to take his tally for the season to 18. He recalled: "I managed to get in front of the keeper and got my head on it. It was a good game to play in. Everybody did well. "It was good to get on before half-time as that helped me get used to the pace of the game." Ward looks set to play some part against Poland as Kyle Lafferty and Martin Paterson are sidelined for both qualifiers. Northern Ireland lie second in Group 3 on goal difference, having played a game more, ahead of Poland as well as the Czech Republic and Slovenia, who are all on seven points. The province could leapfrog Slovakia with a victory, depending on the result of the Slovenia-Czech Republic match, which is also on Saturday.

Source: Team_Talk