Joel Ward hit a landmark when taking to the field in Crystal Palace’s game with Leicester City, making his 300th appearance in club colours.
The full-back, who joined in 2012, made his Palace debut in a win over Exeter City, and hit 300 games in his 249th Premier League outing.
He reflected on the milestone with Palace TV, saying: “I feel very blessed to have played the amount of games I have. It was a dream of mine to play football and to look at that landmark and milestone is amazing.
“From the support from my family and friends and obviously the club and supporters has been solid throughout. Really it’s for them and family and I just pray for many more to come.”
Ward came on in the first-half of Palace’s 2-1 loss to Leicester, playing at left-back in place of Tyrick Mitchell. He called the game “a wake-up call”, and said the team has work to do for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final.
“Coming off the back of such a good and solid run it’s always disappointing not to perform the way we have been. We dust ourselves down, we’ve been there before and we kick on for the weekend.
“We have to respect them, they’re a solid side, they’re a good side. But I think we have to as well look at ourselves and what we could have done better and there are certain things we need to be working and making sure we put right come the weekend.
“I think you can see this as a bit of a wake-up call, to make sure we remain focused, that we remain determined. And that we prepare correctly for the week ahead and the rest of the games this season.
“You have to be ready as and when called upon and to come back from injury and get the minutes under my belt is great. Hopefully I can kick on from there.”
