Having made his loan move from Colchester United a permanent one, Sligo Rovers’ Sam Warde is keen to make his mark on the SSE Airtricity League. The 21-year-old put pen to paper on a full-time deal at the Showgrounds this week, a move which extends
Having made his loan move from Colchester United a permanent one, Sligo Rovers’ Sam Warde is keen to make his mark on the SSE Airtricity League. The 21-year-old put pen to paper on a full-time deal at the Showgrounds this week, a move which extends his stay in Sligo until the end of 2019 at least. With his short term future secured, Warde’s thoughts have quickly turned to establishing himself in the current Rovers team. “It was great to get signed up straight away”, he beamed. “The manager said he’d give me a chance to play and prove myself. So to be able to stay here, keep going and get straight back into things helped. “I want to try and make my name. I want to stay in the team and hopefully push for Europe with Rovers. I want to make a name for myself.” A regular for Colechester’s under 23 side, Warde is under no illusions as to the difference in standard between the underage leagues and the League of Ireland Premier Division. “The football here is different to academy football in England. It’s more real and it’s physical. Academy football is fake, it’s all about playing out from the back and some games can end seven each! “Over here it’s not about how you play. You can mix things but the main thing is to win games.” Warde also knows he needs to impress manager Liam Buckley each week if he’s to compete with the likes of Jack Keaney, David Cawley and Daryl Fordyce for a midfield berth. “The competition is great and you need that because you need to keep playing well to keep your spot. So it’s good to have that. “I’d be most comfortable in that deeper position in the middle and that’s where I want to play. I like cleaning up, trying to get on the ball and starting phases of play.” The young midfielder said he thought a point a piece was just reward for both teams after Rovers’ draw with St Pat’s on Saturday. “It was a fair result, both teams had good chances. They hit the post a few times and we had a few one-on-ones and shots at them but in the end I do think it was fair.” He also feels Rovers are yet to really show what they can do as the players continue to learn the Buckley way. “There’s not much in it really in terms of the teams around us. I sometimes think we don’t do ourselves justice though because, while we’re playing alright, there’s still more to come from us. “Once we get playing, we show that we’re as good as the teams around us.”
