WHEN Darren Ward arrived at the Stadium of Light on a free transfer in pre-season his main brief was to provide cover to the precociously talented yet inexperienced Ben Alnwick.

Now, after only three months on Wearside, Ward is in possession of the goalkeeper's jersey and Sunderland's original first choice has been reduced to the role of understudy once again.

The 32-year-old shot stopper says, despite the role reversal, there is no animosity and the pair remain firm friends on and off the pitch, despite the rivalry for the green jersey.

Ward acknowledged that Alnwick was probably disappointed at being left out for the midweek trip to Stoke but expects his teenage colleague to take the decision on the chin and bounce back.

"I would gather he (Alnwick) would have taken it with great disappointment," said Ward who had his first outing in the Black Cats' 2-1 defeat at Stoke.

"He has unbelievable hunger to be successful, a great work ethic, and he will do whatever he can to get back in the team. Its great for the club that we have a department that is all striving for the same thing.

"Goalkeepers are a bit of a strange breed. Once a match day comes around we all want what is best for one another. If that means Ben has the shirt, I would love him to have a great game. I hope that is mirrored in his thoughts because we want to get this club into the Premier League.

"If that means one of us excelling, great, we all get an extra bonus and happy days."

Ward has spent the majority of his last two seasons at Norwich City, as understudy to England international Robert Green, and admits to feeling frustrated when the team sheet goes up for Saturday's game and your name isn't on it.

Yet despite the setbacks, he's stayed positive and focused in a bid to impress the manager, and he has no doubts Alnwick will do the same.

"It has its moments, being on the sidelines, but it's the same for every player, not just a goalkeeper," said the Wales international, who is not taking his first-team call-up for granted.

"If you know you're on the fringes of the manager's plans you try that bit harder to impress in training. It's what we've been programmed to do and that is what I have done for the last 14 years.

"It is disappointing when there is no end product to the end of your week but, come match day, you still prepare because you know you may be called upon after a minute of a game.

"I'm always asking Ben if he's fine, what his thoughts are and bouncing ideas off him.

"But there is also Trevor (Carson) and we have sort of a goalkeeping union at the club where we all bounce different ideas off each other. It is nice to pool our thoughts."

Ward believes Sunderland's season has been a bit of a mixed bag, with the disruption of the club's take-over bid and a new manager being installed contributing to an inconsistent start. But he believes Sunderland can still achieve promotion this term.

"We had a honeymoon period when the manager arrived where we did OK. Now that period is over and we really have to knuckle down," said Ward.

"The expectation of being a Sunderland player is great and we're a scalp for every team. We have to embrace that and deal with it.

"Our form hasn't been fantastic, especially away from home, but we're only in October. If we get our house in order there is no reason why we can't be challenging. We have some lads coming back from injury, which will enhance the competition for places, and I see no reason why we can't put up a credible challenge up.

"I think our squad compares well with that of West Brom, Birmingham and Cardiff. Players from other teams will come to our stadium and read the names on the programme and will be impressed."