DARREN Ward has revealed a permanent move to Paolo Di Canio’s Swindon Town is exactly what he needed following his nightmare spell with Millwall.

The experienced centre back has agreed an 18-month contract with the Robins following a successful loan spell which has seen him forge an impressive partnership with Joe Devera, with the pair helping Town keep four consecutive clean sheets before the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.

During his time on loan Ward has kept quiet over the extent of his unhappiness at the Den, but now he has made the move permanent he has revealed how he was made to feel like a child by the club’s hierarchy, forcing him to want to leave.

“I am delighted to be here because I have not really enjoyed my football for some time before this move, and I had been looking to get away from Millwall for quite a while,” he said.

“I have had to keep my mouth shut and just get on with it for quite some time, but I really didn’t like it there and I was not happy with how I was treated.

“I love Millwall football club and I love the fans and the players, but I didn’t enjoy my football for many reasons and now I am at Swindon I can just get on with what I love doing.

“I wasn’t treated well at all, and I was a 34 year old getting treated like a schoolboy, and I really didn’t like that one bit.

“I had worked hard and I did very well there, my record shows for itself, and when you work hard you like to be credited and that wasn’t happening.

“In myself I didn’t enjoy it at all, but as a footballer you have to get on with it.”

Manager Di Canio has often received criticism of the way he has handled his players during his time in Wiltshire, but Ward is impressed with the way the former West Ham striker works.

“I have been here three or four months and I know how the manager works, and I like it,” he said.

“We are all treated in a good way, but when it is hard it is hard, and like anywhere if you don’t put the work in you don’t get results.

“One thing I can’t stand is people who do things half-heartedly, and from my background I have always had to work hard for what I have got.

“People are not at the training ground and don’t see what is going on, and it is all about opinions in this world.”