One to Watch – Danny Ward

Name: Danny Ward
Date of Birth: 11/12/1991
Previous clubs: Bolton Wanderers, Swindon Town (L), Coventry City (L), Huddersfield Town (L), Huddersfield Town.
Apps (goals): 267 (45)

Having bagged nine league goals for a struggling Rotherham side prior to the turn of the year, it was no surprise that clubs showed an interest in striker Danny Ward in January, with Ian Holloway seeing more than one bid knocked back for the 25-year-old, who has netted just once in 2017, back in the FA Cup third round.

The R`s eventually settled on Matt Smith, with Ward remaining a Millers player until the summer at least, and as the goals have dried up for the frontman in the last couple of months, relegation to League One looks nailed on for Paul Warne`s men this season, as they find themselves 22 points adrift of safety at the foot of the table.

With 10 goals in all competitions this campaign, Ward leads the scoring charts amongst the Rotherham squad, with on-loan midfielder Tom Adeyemi behind with five, so despite his barren spell over the last two months, he will carry the biggest attacking threat for a Rangers defence going in search of successive clean sheets.

Six of the former Bolton trainees league goals this term have come away from the New York Stadium, amongst the 17 he has scored in total for the Millers since joining the club on a permanent basis, with Rotherham being the fifth different club that the 25-year-old has turned out for since making his Trotters debut in August 2009.

That came in the final few minutes of a Premier League loss away to Sunderland, which was followed up a week later by another late cameo in another top-flight defeat, this time to Hull City, before being given the opportunity of regular first-team football with a loan switch to League One side Swindon in December 2009.

He would remain at the Robins until the end of the season, a spell that saw him net nine goals in 31 outings for the club, where he played alongside Charlie Austin, four of which came in his final five appearances, his last match ending in disappointment as Swindon were beaten 1-0 by Millwall in the Play-Off final at Wembley.

The 2009/2010 season involved a further two loan spells, with an initial month-long switch to Coventry, then in the Championship, before ending the season with Huddersfield, where he would once again be on the end of League One Play-Off final heartache, as the Terriers were beaten 3-0 by Peterborough at Old Trafford.

A permanent move to the Terriers followed that summer, where he stayed for three and a half years, helping the club return to and remain in the Championship, scoring 16 goals in 130 appearances after making the switch, before he was deemed surplus to requirements in January 2015, when he moved to his current club.

Having signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Millers, his contract is set to expire this summer, and while his form in front of goal has taken a dip since the speculation surrounding his future arose at the back end of last year, it`s unlikely he`ll be plying his trade in League One next season being available on a free transfer.