Stephen Ward says that Brighton & Hove Albion’s play-off ambitions attracted him to the club last summer.*
The Irishman, who arrived on loan from Wolves in the summer, admits he discussed the move to Albion with Keith Andrews prior to arriving and that the pair are now seeing their decision rewarded.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “It’s the reason we came here. We knew that –after speaking to each other – it’s a club going in the right direction and they were unlucky last year.
“But promotion has been the aim this year and like I said it’s one the reasons we came here – to achieve something like this and we’ve done alright so far.
“You’ve seen throughout the season that some of our toughest games have come against so called lower-half teams, but that’s the beauty of this league.
“As for the play-offs you can beat anyone and any given day so, if we get there, we’ll definitely fancy ourselves in them.”
Ward also praised the mentality of Oscar Garcia’s squad but admitted the players have had to adjust to opposing teams’ plans when they come to the Amex.
“We’re used to teams coming here and sitting back with ten men behind the ball. So we said in the dressing room that it’s all about being calm, collective and remaining patient.
“And, in the second half, when legs were getting tired, we could kill them off and it worked out really well.
“Obviously it would have been nice to have been one or two goals up at half-time but the main thing was that we didn’t panic and the lads kept at it.
“But the fans were unbelievable, as they have been all season, so hopefully we can reward them by getting in the play-offs and doing our jobs next week.”
Original article
The Irishman, who arrived on loan from Wolves in the summer, admits he discussed the move to Albion with Keith Andrews prior to arriving and that the pair are now seeing their decision rewarded.
He told seagulls.co.uk, “It’s the reason we came here. We knew that –after speaking to each other – it’s a club going in the right direction and they were unlucky last year.
“But promotion has been the aim this year and like I said it’s one the reasons we came here – to achieve something like this and we’ve done alright so far.
“You’ve seen throughout the season that some of our toughest games have come against so called lower-half teams, but that’s the beauty of this league.
“As for the play-offs you can beat anyone and any given day so, if we get there, we’ll definitely fancy ourselves in them.”
Ward also praised the mentality of Oscar Garcia’s squad but admitted the players have had to adjust to opposing teams’ plans when they come to the Amex.
“We’re used to teams coming here and sitting back with ten men behind the ball. So we said in the dressing room that it’s all about being calm, collective and remaining patient.
“And, in the second half, when legs were getting tired, we could kill them off and it worked out really well.
“Obviously it would have been nice to have been one or two goals up at half-time but the main thing was that we didn’t panic and the lads kept at it.
“But the fans were unbelievable, as they have been all season, so hopefully we can reward them by getting in the play-offs and doing our jobs next week.”
Original article