Nick Ward on Playing/Not Playing for QPR & QPR Reserves and Australia at Loftus Road

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Ben Kosky/Kilburn Times - Nick Ward
".... Until a month ago, Nick Ward was virtually ever-present in the Rangers side and a strong candidate to play for Australia in their friendly against Ghana on November 14 [at Loftus Road].
But the midfielder has yet to feature in the starting line-up since John Gregory took over at Loftus Road and admitted: "It's definitely a concern that I haven't been playing for a while.
"I felt my form had been quite good, but the team weren't getting results. The upshot was that a new manager came in - and he doesn't really know me yet.
"It's frustrating at the moment but that's part of the ups and downs of football - you just have to wait for your chance and, when I get it, I want to show John Gregory what I can do.....
"There's a great atmosphere at Loftus Road and I'd love to be involved. I received a text from the national team manager to say I was in contention to be selected and that's good to hear."
The 21-year-old - who narrowly missed out on a place in the Socceroos' World Cup squad last summer - was confident his international prospects would be boosted by moving to QPR from Perth Glory.
That belief seemed to be justified by Ward's inclusion on the substitutes' bench for Australia's 2-0 Asia Cup defeat in the 40-degree heat of Kuwait last month.
But, having started Rangers' first eight league games and then scored his first goal in a 2-0 win over Southend, Ward was surprised to find himself demoted to the reserves after Gregory replaced Gary Waddock.
"That's definitely something I hadn't planned for," said Ward. "I don't really feel I belong there and that level is a long way below where I'd like to be playing.
"The reason I came to QPR was because I felt the Championship was a good standard of football and I thought I'd have a good chance of playing week in, week out."
Ward was given a run-out in the second half of Rangers' 3-2 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and failed to shine, albeit in an unfamiliar role wide on the right....
Kilburn Times