PUBLISHED
12:59 4th September 2013
by James Hilsum
Stephen Ward hopes a good run of form at Albion will help to propel him back into international contention for the Republic of Ireland squad.Giovanni Trappattoni’s side play two crucial World Cup qualifiers at home to Sweden on Friday and away at Austria the following Tuesday, and Ward feels his loan move to Albion will only improve his chances of a recall.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “The manager wanted me and Kevin Doyle to try and move on and was always aware of us playing at a club who was having a tough time.
“It is tough when you’re playing every week and things are not going right. I think psychologically the manager felt that could it affect us coming into the squad. I’m hoping that by coming here he can see that things have moved on and it’s a fresh start for me.”
The Irishman has been helped by the way he and his family have quickly settled into life on the south coast, and he's enjoying the style of play under Oscar Garcia.
“My family’s moved down quite quickly, and the club have been great in helping us out. The area is so nice and I was quite enthusiastic to get my wife and family down as quickly as possible.
“I've tried to play my own game and get up to speed with how the manager wants us to play as quickly as possible.
"With the type of players we have here, it has been quite easy to be honest and I'm really enjoying it here."
Original article