Stephen Ward: ‘No one wants to go home early’

One of the buzz words pinging about the Republic of Ireland camp this week has been positivity, so maybe this is a good time to point out that Stephen Ward’s experiences with the Italians haven’t been all bad.

Far from it, in fact.

True, Ward was one of those present and criticised for his part in the Euro 2012 debacle that ended with a comprehensive 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Azzurri, but he can sandwich that with more digestible results.