DANNY WARD played a central role as Town chalked up another friendly win then said: “It’s great to be back.”
The 19-year-old, signed on a permanent deal from Bolton after a successful loan stint last season, scored the first and made the second for Alan Lee as Town beat Hamilton 2-1.
They were given a good work-out by the Scottish First Division side in front of an 820 crowd which included around 100 Town fans as well as Preston manager Phil Brown, whose own team are on tour North of the border.
Town, who are based in Edinburgh and are undertaking two training sessions on non-game days, head to Dunfermline tomorrow and Ward will be looking for more game-time.
“I think all the lads enjoyed this match, and you play to win every time you go onto the pitch, so the result was pleasing,” he said.
“Friendlies provide the chance to show the gaffer what you can do as well as getting your fitness back, and it’s my aim to work as hard as possible and do my best to make the teamsheet for our first league game.”
The only downside for manager Lee Clark was the hamstring niggle which forced the withdrawal of Gary Roberts just eight minutes after his introduction from the bench.
“It’s a bit of a concern because it’s been hanging around him for a while,” admitted Clark.
“We thought we’d got to the bottom of it, but we’ll have to take another look and do some delving into what is causing the problem.”
On his side’s third win in as many senior friendlies, Clark said: “Hamilton have got some good young players and they gave us a good game, so I was delighted with the work-out.”
