Calum Ward relishing role as Motherwell’s number one

Calum Ward is loving his role as Motherwell’s first-choice goalkeeper after admitting he was only “making up the numbers” when he arrived.

Ward was the third goalkeeper to join Motherwell in January, when they did not have a manager, after injuries to Aston Oxborough and new loan signing Archie Mair left the club short.

The 24-year-old sat on the bench as cover for another loan arrival, Ellery Balcombe, until Oxborough recovered from a broken bone in his hand, but was handed a one-year contract by Michael Wimmer towards the end of the season.

The former Bournemouth youth player, who arrived from Finnish top-flight side AC Oulu, then found himself in possession of the number one spot in Jens Berthel Askou’s side after Oxborough suffered an injury in pre-season and Matty Connolly was loaned to Airdrie.

“When I came in in January, I came in knowing I was making up numbers to an extent and just training hard and trying to improve the boys around me and just bring more of that competitive edge to the squad,” he said.

“But obviously this year I’ve been given my chance and I’ve just got to try and keep playing well and stay in the team basically.

“When chances come you’ve just got to take them. With Aston getting injured, which is obviously not the way you want to make the spot your own, but the gaffer spoke to me and said ‘this is your chance, so try and take it’.

“Throughout pre-season I feel like I’ve done that and obviously been rewarded by starting the season and still playing now.”

Ward has responded well by keeping three clean sheets in his last four matches.

“Obviously clean sheets is the thing we look for, but it’s not just been me, the boys have been really good,” he said ahead of Saturday’s William Hill Premiership encounter against Hearts.

“Defensively we’ve been class, so we’ve started the season really well on that front and we just need to keep doing that, keep improving at it.”

Ward has also had to grow accustomed to a new way of playing as Askou demands his goalkeeper joins in with possession play.

“I’m not fully used to it, but I’ve had background of playing with the ball on the floor and playing out from the back,” he said. “But this is obviously a bit of a next step, playing so high.

“But I’m really enjoying it. I’ve done well so far and just obviously keep looking to improve in training every day and it’s something that I’m enjoying and happy doing.

“When you step so high, you’re almost like an extra centre-back. We’re told to be risky and be brave, but you’ve got to be smart at the same time. You can’t take so many risks, you’ve got to not risk the ball too much.”