Ward's Family Affair

Sunderland stopper Darren Ward could be in for an earful whatever the score against the Owls on Saturday - with his wife and family all massive Wednesday fans!

Ward could be on the wrong side of manager Roy Keane should his Sunderland side fall to defeat at Hillsborough tomorrow, but he could be in for an even bigger earful from his in-laws should he help the in-form Black Cats achieve victory over the Owls.

He told the Evening Chronicle: 'My wife grew up supporting Wednesday and her family are massive Wednesdayites. Coming from Worksop, which has a Sheffield postcode, we have a lot of Owls around us who will be there tomorrow.

'Nicola will be there as well as her dad and her sister and my dad and his workmates and other family, although pretty much all of them will be in the Kop rather than the away end, so it is going to be interesting for me to say the least.'

But the stopper, who has made 16 appearances for the Black Cats since his summer move from Norwich, will still have one person in his family supporting him - his son Rhys.

He continued: 'It is all friendly banter though. I have my little boy Rhys at school there who is already getting ribbed by his schoolmates, saying they are going to the game and are looking forward to beating us. I know Rhys is sticking up for me and hopefully I can make him happy.'

Lets hope Mrs Ward and company have the bragging rights in the Ward household on Saturday night, hey?!

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