Greg Halford on Danny Ward and why Cardiff City are better now than last season
By Ian Mitchelmore
Thursday 10th August 2017
Greg Halford believes Danny Ward will be able to deliver the goals needed to boost Cardiff City's chances of securing promotion into the Premier League.
And the versatile 32-year-old also says the Bluebirds are significantly stronger than they were last term as a result of their business in the summer transfer market.
Halford saw his former Rotherham team-mate Ward make the move to south Wales in June, with the striker featuring in both of Cardiff's opening two matches of the new season so far.
And when asked what Ward will bring to the Bluebirds, Halford simply responded: "Goals.
"He's a really good finisher, left and right foot. He's a bit like Pilks (Anthony Pilkington), he can come off both feet, he's good in the air, strong, quick and he's got all the ingredients to score a lot of goals.
"He's definitely a team player. In pre-season and coming on on Saturday (at Burton), he was on the left of the three up top, so he isn't really pigeon-holed into one position because he can play right across the front three and he can use both feet."
Ward is one of seven signings made by Neil Warnock during the close season.
The forward - who netted twice in the Bluebirds' 4-0 pre-season thumping of Livingston at Cardiff City Stadium eight days before their 1-0 win at Burton - has been joined by Neil Etheridge, Lee Camp, Callum Paterson, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Loic Damour and Lee Tomlin in moving to the Welsh capital.
And Halford believes Cardiff's swift dealings in the transfer window - along with their hectic pre-season schedule - will stand them in good stead during the 2017-18 campaign.
"We've got more pace in the team," added Halford, who netted his first goal for Cardiff in the 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Portsmouth.
"You see the likes of Junior (Hoilett) coming on and creating chances for himself. He's got quality coming off the bench, and he obviously started on Saturday.
"Nathaniel (Mendez-Laing) again coming off the bench showing his quality, we're just a bit more direct and have that little bit more pace.
"We had a really good pre-season with a lot of games coming thick and fast. We had two weeks of solid running when we came in but after those two weeks the games thick and fast and that got our match sharpness up."
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