Ward's a flexible friend

Ward has hardly put a foot wrong in a forward role since checking into Molineux after a bargain £125,000 transfer – scoring a string of eye-catching goals before the strains of playing non-stop football for 12 months finally caught up with him during the Championship run-in.

But he knows the expensive acquisitions of Freddy Eastwood and Stephen Elliott mean striking places are at a premium next season and is willing to turn left winger again – if it means regular football.

And that thought is clearly not far from the mind of boss McCarthy, who reckons Ward is quick and clinical enough to succeed as a winger in the Championship. With Matt Jarvis an injury doubt, Ward will get another chance to impress against former club Bohemians at Dalymount Park tomorrow – and build on an assured performance on the wing against Bray Wanderers this week.

Speaking from the team's training base in his hometown Portmanock, Ward said: "I played a lot of games on the left for Bohs. If the gaffer did call on me to do a job there I'd be more than happy to do it – I don't think you can have it any other way when you look at the competition in our team.

"Everyone wants to play and so it'd be foolish for me to say 'I only want to be considered as a striker'. If I can do as good a job on the left as up front I'd be happy to play there.

"But to be fair, I'm hardly guaranteed a place on the wing either. We have Matt Jarvis, Michael Kightly, Lewis Gobern and Daniel Jones – that is plenty of options for gaffer and just about all of them can play on either the right or left. It is a good sign for the season ahead that everyone is battling hard for one of those starting roles. Everyone wants to be in starting 11 but even if I'm not I'll work hard and take the chance if and when it comes."

After being slightly overshadowed by the club's new big money arrivals, Ward will take centre stage when he returns to Bohs tomorrow – the club he left for his dream move to Wolves back in January. But there will be little time for emotion from Ward, who acknowledges he is fighting tooth and nail to impress McCarthy ahead of the Championship kick-off in little under four weeks time.

"I'll enjoy it and hopefully we'll get the right result – otherwise I'll be getting a few text messages over the next few weeks," he said.

"But there is serious work to do. They're a good standard of opposition and we'll not find it easy. A lot of players at Bohs were there when I was there and it will be good to get back and see them. I actually went back during the summer to watch a game and I was called out onto pitch to get a round of applause. It was a bit embarassing but it was a grand feeling," he said.

"It will be good to get a chance to say bye to the fans too – I finished my last season there injured and didn't play the last three games."

Four of the Molineux travelling party are from Dublin but none are closer to home than Ward, who grew up within a stone's throw of the club's base in Portmanock.

The 21-year-old recalls spending most of his childhood "kicking a ball about" on the beach the team trained on again yesterday – and dividing his weekend's between Gaelic football and his first love soccer. With tough training sessions every day, the week has been all business for the likeable forward – but he's done some catching up.

"This is quite small area with most people knowing each other so I've bumped into a fair few people and friends of my mum and dad. It's great to be back – I love it here," he said.

"I grew up here playing football on the local parks and the beach during the summer. This is a great place to have grown up. I always kicked a ball from an early age and would be down there from three or four playing with the other lads."

The striker swapped Gaelic football for soccer at the age of 18 – but he could probably have had a handy career in the Irish game if he'd persevered. Ironically it was partly the influence of his club manager that saw him favour football over the Gaelic version of the game.

One of the generation of young Irish football fans who were energised by Italia 90, it was the efforts of a McCarthy-led Republic that helped set him on a career path which has eventually led to Molineux.

"I played Gaelic fooball for local club when I was younger and I was OK at it. It probably did help me in my football career because you get a few knocks, especially to the upper body. You're certainly not going to get those kind of hits in football. I got up to 'minor' when I was 18, which is just under the senior level. But then it started to clash and my preference was always for football. I got into it at Italia '90 and it just blossomed from there. But Gaelic football is still a big part of my life and I go to Croke Park as much as I can.

"My team are County Dublin and I watched their big game in the Leinster Cup on TV last Sunday. It is one of my passions," he said.

Now Ward has his sights set on two goals – keeping his place and helping Wolves into the top flight.

"We can only improve now we have several players in every postion – that is sure to keep people on their toes," he said.

"On paper we're confident we can finish in the top two but I think a lot will be down to us to get a good start. That is all about preparing right during pre-season season. I'm sure if we progress like we have been doing we'll be ready come August 11."