Nottingham Forest will be so relieved that they kept Jamie Ward around.
While Nottingham Forest’s dramatic, last-gasp Championship survival bid owed much to an excellent team performance in the 3-0, final day battering of Ipswich Town, one player in particular deserves his fair share of the spotlight.
And, no, not two-goal talisman Britt Assombalonga or long-serving stalwart Chris Cohen, who’s deflected long-range drive was his first at the City Ground in six years.
Jamie Ward has never been one to grab the headlines but the diminutive Irish international is the perhaps the reluctant posterboy of Mark Warburton’s revolution.
Once again, the effervescent 30-year-old was a bundle of boundless energy against Ipswich, nicking in ahead of goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski to win the penalty for Assombalonga’s opener.
Ward may not be the most technically gifted attacker, he may not spawn any YouTube montages, but his relentless endeavour has made him absolutely essential to Warburton.
Small stature, big heart
Therefore, it’s easy to forget that he was farmed out to fellow strugglers Burton Albion at the start of the season. And, back in the summer, The Daily Mail reported that Leeds United, Brighton, Birmingham City and QPR were all interested in signing Ward on a permanent basis.
It’s fair to say a Leeds side who missed out on the play-offs after winning just two of their last eleven league fixtures could have benefitted from calling on a player with Ward’s infectious enthusiasm.
Finishing five points adrift of the top six, a lack of creativity in attack and the absence of any player capable of taking the pressure of talismanic goalscorer Chris Wood cost Leeds dear.
Forest, however, will be breathing a sigh of relief after ensuring that Ward would only leave the club on a temporary basis. If he had not returned to the City Ground in January, it could be them, rather than Blackburn Rovers, facing up to life in League One.
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