Wolves forward Stephen Ward is "itching to get back" to training after missing the second half of last season to recover from knee surgery.

The 22-year-old enjoyed 29 appearances for Mick McCarthy's side up until January when a knee problem forced him to miss the rest of the season - only coming back to figure twice as a substitute as the campaign drew to a close.

But after following an individually-tailored summer programme set by fitness coach Tony Daley, Ward just wants to get into the thick of pre-season action.

"Obviously you always need a bit of time off and you enjoy a bit of a rest, but a week or two before coming back you do start itching to get back in again," the Republic of Ireland Under-23 international told the club's official website.

"You get to the stage when you are ready to really get back to work and the boys are all ready to go.

"`Dales' gives us a really good workout programme to do over the summer and the lads all stick to that because it keeps us in good shape. We're coming back with a decent base fitness wise, which helps us when the hard stuff starts this week."