Joel Ward can’t even remember who Portsmouth played in the game that most shaped his career. Weighing up the question, he has a cluster of matches to pick from - matches when the opposition are impossible to forget.
But he doesn’t choose his professional debut against Cardiff City, top flight promotion against Watford or the FA Cup final against Manchester United.
Instead he chooses an FA Youth Cup clash against, well, someone. “Someone like Huddersfield,” to be more precise.
“We got beaten,” he elaborates. “We shouldn’t really have got beaten. I got home and got a bit of a grilling, to be honest with you, from the old man, my brother and a family friend.