Ward could have gone in January, with clubs making bids and the Millers turning down a reported £2million for his services, despite the dire reading of the league table, the club were not letting the top scorer leave the club.
“Clubs come in for you but until a move happens you’ve just got to get your head down and stay focused, I’ve made some great friendships at Rotherham so when I stayed it wasn’t such a big hardship because I wanted to do well for my mates and Warney and my family and so on. You’ve just got to get on with it." Ward told the Star.
“I just wanted to help out the lads in any way I could and try to get out of the situation we were in. We didn’t, but that’s just one of those things. Staying or nor staying, I never thought too much about it, to be honest.”
After the January rumours, Ward's form dipped, but it wasnt due to lack of effort, and with relegation confirmed early, Ward's future was sealed.
“You’re playing for personal pride, You’ve still got fans paying to come to watch you. They don’t want to come and watch and you’re just jogging about as if you’re not bothered. In the end, it’s a game of football. We’re competitive lads and you go out to win. You don’t go out to get rolled over and embarrassed by other teams. You try to put in a performance and do the best you can in every game."
“There was no sulking from me that I had to stay. There’s no point being like that. I wanted to do well for the lads. If you sulk, you just look like a d*ck.”
Ward looked back at last season and thanked the Millers faithful; “The fans have always supported me and I appreciate every bit of backing they gave me, It’s always good to hear fans singing your name and stuff."
“Every single one of us was going out there and giving our absolute best. Too often, it wasn’t enough. You just feel disappointed yourself and for the fans. It wasn’t a nice thing to experience.”
Ward thanked manager Paul Warne and expects him to have a succesful season ahead. “You know what Warney’s about. He’s a fitness freak! But that’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing. Sometimes, you need that motivation and inspiration, if you want to call it that, from someone. Some days you come in and you’re aching but you need to push on and Warney is the man to get everyone going."
"On a personal level, I had a few niggly issues and bits of fitness stuff and he was always the first one to come over and help me out and make sure everything was going right outside of football. I can speak to him as a friend. He’s helped me out a lot in the game. I’ve got a lot to thank him for. I can see him doing well as a manager. I know the stresses he felt when he first took over last season. Now he’s got a full season to get the lads in and do things as he wants things them to be done, I can see Rotherham doing really well. We had a good team of players last year but, for one reason or another, it just wasn’t clicking. Now Warney can get everything organised, I think things will go well and Rotherham could be pushing for promotion next year.”