Nomadic Ward finally settling in to life on the left

IT’S just over six months since Stephen Ward poured his heart out about the lack of interest shown in him by Giovanni Trapattoni and it seems like he got the Italian’s attention.

The former Bohemians player has now featured in six of the last seven Republic of Ireland fixtures — he sat out the 2-0 win in Macedonia — and is expected to start at left-back for tomorrow night’s tie in Andorra and Tuesday’s at home to Armenia.

In international terms, he is the very definition of an overnight sensation but, at 26 years of age and with eight years of football behind him with Bohs and Wolves, he has worked hard to earn a rapid elevation that seemed impossible a few years ago.