Grant Ward has enjoyed his first season in an Ipswich Town shirt.

The summer signing from Tottenham Hotspur got off to a dream start when he scored a stunning hat-trick on his Town debut, coming on as a second-half substitute, before firing three past Barnsley in a 4-2 win at Portman Road on the opening day of the season.

And Ward, who has scored three goals since that unforgettable day to take his goal tally to six for the season so far, has enjoyed the season as a whole, despite the team’s difficulties.

“I think it’s been a good season for me, it’s been a bit of a learning curve and has been up-and-down times, but it’s been enjoyable,” said Ward, who has played central midfield, right midfield, and right wing-back this season.

“Obviously it hasn’t ended how we wanted it to – we wanted to end near the play-offs, but it’s a tough division with some good teams.

“We wanted to be pushing for the play-offs so it’s been a bit of a disappointing season, but we have got to build from it.”

Arguably, Town have put in their best two performances of the season in their last two games - the important 2-1 win at Burton Albion on Good Friday, and the magnficent 3-1 win over Newcastle United on Easter Monday.

And Ward wants to continue that winning feeling at Rotherham United, the club he spent the 2015/16 on loan at.

“The recent wins have been great for morale,” said Ward.

“We’ve needed a few wins of late and it was a good time to get those against top opposition as well.

“We just want to keep our run going and see how many wins we can get (until the season finishes).”