CRYSTAL Palace defender Joel Ward has admitted it's been hard to watch former club Portsmouth go through a difficult financial and ownership period in the last two years.
The 22-year-old came through the Pompey Academy before making his first-team debut and then moving to Selhurst Park last summer.
"It's tough to see as the club is close to me and they brought me up," Ward told Advertiser Sport.
"It was my first opportunity to play football there and hopefully they can sort themselves out."
And on the back of his recent return from injury last weekend against Barnsley, he wants to help Palace achieve promotion to the Premier League and stay injury-free.
"I've had to be patient in coming back but I'm happy to be back out there," he said.
"I was glad to have a clean sheet on my return - I just want to stay fit for the remaining games."
Don't miss tomorrow's Croydon Advertiser, where Ward talks about the next game away at Ipswich Town, his thoughts on the season so far and his competition at right-back with Jazz Richards.
The contents of this article must not be reproduced without the permission of the Croydon Advertiser.
Follow us on Twitter for the latest Palace news, exclusives and live match updates at www.twitter.com/AdvertiserSport
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Watch our exclusive away videos following Palace around the country on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/AdvertiserSport
The 22-year-old came through the Pompey Academy before making his first-team debut and then moving to Selhurst Park last summer.
"It's tough to see as the club is close to me and they brought me up," Ward told Advertiser Sport.
"It was my first opportunity to play football there and hopefully they can sort themselves out."
And on the back of his recent return from injury last weekend against Barnsley, he wants to help Palace achieve promotion to the Premier League and stay injury-free.
"I've had to be patient in coming back but I'm happy to be back out there," he said.
"I was glad to have a clean sheet on my return - I just want to stay fit for the remaining games."
Don't miss tomorrow's Croydon Advertiser, where Ward talks about the next game away at Ipswich Town, his thoughts on the season so far and his competition at right-back with Jazz Richards.
The contents of this article must not be reproduced without the permission of the Croydon Advertiser.
Follow us on Twitter for the latest Palace news, exclusives and live match updates at www.twitter.com/AdvertiserSport
Palace fans on Facebook, have your say on our page at www.facebook.com/AdvertiserSport
Watch our exclusive away videos following Palace around the country on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/AdvertiserSport