Bohemians forward Stephen Ward has spelled out his desire to follow in the footsteps of Kevin Doyle and play in English football.
Doyle moved to Reading from Cork City and his rise has been swift with the icing on the cake a senior debut tonight in a Lansdowne Road friendly with Sweden.
The 22-year-old has scored 13 goals in the Royals' bid for promotion to the Barclays Premiership this season.
Bohemians forward Ward enhanced his burgeoning reputation with the only goal for the under-21s in last night's friendly over their Swedish counterparts.
That made it three goals in the 20-year-old's last three appearances at under-21 as he also scored against Finland and Portugal in the Madeira Tournament success last month.
And Ward, watched by Ipswich manager Joe Royle at Drogheda's United Park, will have done his prospects of a move to England no harm.
" You always want to go where you can challenge yourself and England is as good as it gets," said Ward. "I would love to go over and give it a try but I'm contracted with Bohs for another two years and I'm just looking forward to the new season starting now.
"You never know what could happen though. Look at Kevin. He is an inspiration to everyone who plays in the eircom League, and shown just what is possible."
