Nick Ward admits he was baffled to find himself on the outer at Melbourne Victory this season and hopes his move to the Wellington Phoenix will give him the regular game time he is craving.
Ward got two minutes off the bench in the opening round of the 2010/11 A-League season but that was the only action he saw until the Phoenix came calling just before the transfer deadline and the 25-year-old attacking midfielder made his Wellington debut at half-time in last weekend’s 1-2 round five loss to Perth Glory.
"I had a few meeting with (Victory coach Ernie Merrick) and he didn’t really give me much of an answer," Ward said.
"He said that he wanted to play younger players in front of me and I would have been waiting in the stands or, if anything, coming off the bench."
"Sometimes you’ve just got to move on. I could have sat in the stands or on the bench at Victory but I want to come and play regular football."
The former A-League young player of year certainly looked lively in the 45 minutes he got a nib Stadium in Perth after replacing an out-of-sorts Tim Brown.
But he was disappointed he could not help his new team-mates gain a rare win away from home.
"I thought we could possibly have nicked a draw in the end," he admitted. "I was happy to come on. I tried to do things positively and go forward and try to make something happen but unfortunately we lost."
Ward was unsure whether or not the performance had been good enough to warrant a starting spot against Sydney at Westpac Stadium this Saturday, although Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert seemed happy with his new signing’s first outing.
"He’s a great guy and I think he’s settled in extremely well. He had two small training sessions (with us before the Perth game). We didn’t ask for him to do a lot and I think he stepped up and made a good start," the coach said.
Herbert is facing some selection conundrums heading into the game against Sydney, who find themselves languishing at the bottom of the ladder.
Manny Muscat and new recruit Jade North will arrive back in the New Zealand capital on Friday following their international commitments with Malta and Australia respectively.
Herbert has not ruled out either or both of them making it into his starting line-up this weekend.
"I think Manny only played 59 minutes (against Latvia) and Jade didn’t play (against Poland). It will be a late call but we’ll see. They are both a chance."
While Muscat would have no problem slotting straight back in at right back, North has yet to meet his new team-mates, although he and skipper Andrew Durante were the centre back pairing when Newcastle won the title two seasons ago.
"Jade is a quality player and … you’d kind of think he’d fit in quickly but that’s a call we’ve got to make," Herbert said.
"There’s obviously a good understanding there (between Durante and North). They won a championship together. They know each other well. I’m sure Jade will be itching to play. He’s missed a couple of games by being away. It’s just whether that travel component is going to be a problem or not."