Ward out to lay ghosts of past to rest

STEPHEN WARD has been here before.

Tallinn, that is.

Seven years ago, a Bohemians side that had enjoyed some success in Europe drew Levadia Tallinn in the preliminary round of the UEFA Cup and left the Estonian capital with a 0-0 draw only to tumble out on the back of a 3-1 loss in Dublin a week later.

Ward was still at the foothills of his spell with Bohs back then. He didn’t feature in the first leg and the tie was dead and buried by the time he replaced Simon Webb in the return at Dalymount Park.

He remembers a big, physical, technical side. He also recalls the disappointment felt at the loss after an evening when Bohs were favourites but beat themselves with an inept performance.

Current Estonia boss Tarmo Ruutli was manager of Levadia at the time and it’s a useful experience to draw on in a week where Estonia are bigging up their status as underdogs while Ireland are scrambling to paint events as a battle of near equals.

“Yeah, we drew over there and lost here,” Ward recalled, “but with the manager we have we’ll never go into a game underestimating the opponents. They’re in the play-offs for a reason. They’ve come through a tough group and to finish ahead of Serbia is no mean feat. It’s going to be tough whoever you play these days. We feel that if we’re at the top of our game then we can be a match for anyone.”

Ghosts of the past are very much in vogue this week.

Thierry Henry and the Stade de France continue to haunt this group of players, even those who weren’t involved. Ward, who watched that second-leg in his apartment in Birmingham, is one of the latter group.

There has been no ban on talk of Paris in the team hotel but everyone is aware that only so much motivation can be squeezed from it and there will never be a better opportunity than this next five days to relegate it to the subconscious.

“People will remember it and be disappointed by it but the reality is that we have to look ahead. This is a real opportunity. It’s a massive week for us and we have as good a chance as we’ve ever had to qualify for a big tournament so we have to focus on that and put everything else to the backs of our minds.”

The Irish team has changed little since 2009 but Trapattoni has been robbed of some key players who featured in that French debacle by suspension and injury. One of only two unenforced change from Saint-Denis may be Ward’s inclusion at left-back. It’s a meteoric rise for a player who only received his first call-up last May when he made his belated senior debut against Northern Ireland but his newfound value was evident when Trapattoni omitted Kevin Kilbane from this latest squad some weeks ago.

Ward admits it is a vote of confidence while stressing that he still has plenty to learn about the international game. It just seems something of a shame he is not told to give in to his attacking instincts as is the case at Wolves. As we know, caution is far from a dirty word with Mr Trapattoni although it might be if any of the eight players with yellow cards hanging over their heads pick up another and miss out on the return.

Ward sat out the last group game, against Armenia, after picking up his second booking of the campaign in Andorra but he doesn’t believe the threat of disciplinary punishment will temper performances tomorrow night.

“You can’t pull out of a challenge that you would make normally, you have to make sure that you play your own game. If you get booked there’s not a whole lot you can do about it unless it’s a really silly booking. It’ll still be at the backs of minds, though.”

As will Levadia and Paris.

Picture: David Maher / SPORTSFILE