Grant Ward is keen to nail down a place in the middle of the Ipswich Town midfield but knows he faces serious competition as the Blues’ injured stars begin to return.

East Anglian Daily Times: Grant Ward and Cole Skuse join forces at Cardiff. Picture: PAGEPIXGrant Ward and Cole Skuse join forces at Cardiff. Picture: PAGEPIX (Image: Pagepix Ltd)

Ward has featured 13 times this season, making 10 starts, with the most recent coming at Cardiff where he played 90 minutes on the right flank of a central trio of Cole Skuse, Flynn Downes and Kevin Bru.

But while he is happy to play anywhere if it means a starting place in Mick McCarthy’s side, the former Tottenham player believes he can make the most impact in the middle of the park.

He said: “You want to play every game but when you do get your chance you have to take it. You want to nail down a position but I don’t mind (playing multiple roles) and as soon as I’m playing I’m happy.

“Personally I think (I’m best) in the middle but I think I can be effective on the flanks as well, but personally I would say my best position is in the middle.

“I’ve got a few assists this season but maybe I need to help the team out a little more with a few more goals.”

With Emyr Huws close to returning from an Achilles injury, Tom Adeyemi, Teddy Bishop and Luke Hyam all working their way back to fitness and the emergence of Downes and Tristan Nydam, Ward believes midfield is a position of strength for Ipswich.

“Emyr is a good player, we saw that in his first season, so it’s good for him and good for us that he’s got some minutes in the Under-23s so hopefully he can come back into the team,” Ward said.

“(Bishop and Hyam) are always in most days, they are in a bit earlier than us and are of course disappointed to have been out for a while but they are nearly there.

East Anglian Daily Times: Bersant Celina with Grant Ward at Burton Albion Picture PagepixBersant Celina with Grant Ward at Burton Albion Picture Pagepix (Image: Pagepix Ltd)

“I saw Bish working outside the other day so hopefully he’s nearly there. You have to keep a high spirit because that’s what going to get you back.

“I feel like in a lot of areas of the pitch we have real competition now and on the bench at Cardiff we had a good few who could have played. It’s always good to have that competition.”

Ward also believes there is no need to panic regarding the Blues’ position in the Championship table, as they sit 11th heading into Saturday’s game with Preston.

“Most seasons the Championship is fairly open. All you need are two wins on the bounce and you can be right back up there,” he said.