Striker Buzzing To Get More Minutes
Town forward James Collins says he was ‘buzzing’ to come out of the Kidderminster Harriers friendly with a goal and more importantly – injury free.The Vanarama Conference side put on a physical display against Micky Mellon’s men and Collins was delighted with the test his side were given at Aggborough.
“It’s always nice to get 90 minutes in pre-season and it’s my first 90-minutes so I’m buzzing to come out of the game injury free,” admitted Collins.
“Getting your first 90-minutes and coming through the test of fitness is what pre-season is all about and I’m glad I’ve got that tonight.
“They’re not a bad side to be fair to them and they put us under a lot of pressure but we hung in there and dug in and seen it through and deserved the win in the end.”
The 24-year-old made the game safe for Town with his strike after 80-minutes, adding to Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro’s first half finish and Collins was happy to get himself on the scoresheet, if not also a little disappointed not to have found the net before that.
“I thought I should’ve done better with the first one especially but we’ve dug in there and managed to get the second one which I was really pleased with,” said Collins.
“As they missed their chances it spurred us on a bit more and we’ve got the experience on in the second half and we’ve seen the game out which is a great trait to have.
“We’ve had three really tough games last week and we’ve come out of them with a couple of draws and a loss but they’re good teams to be tested against and tonight was another test differently – physically, and we’ve come through it.”
Town now travel to Tranmere Rovers for their final pre-season friendly before the season opener at home to Milwall and the former Republic of Ireland U21 international Collins says his side are determined to end pre-season on a high.
“We want to go there and get another win,” added Collins. “It’s not going to be an easy game. They beat us last year so we owe them one really and we need to go up there with the same attitude as tonight.
“Milwall is going to be a massive game and I think that’s what everyone is looking forward to now. We need to get through Saturday with no injuries and then get a good week under our belt and hit the ground running on the 8th.”
And with places up for grabs and almost two players for each position, 24-year-old Collins knows that the manager is in for some tough decisions.
“I think he’d (Micky Mellon) prefer it that way,” added Collins. “I think he’d like to have some tough decisions to make come the Milwall game and that’s what he gets paid for. I think everyone has to keep on their toes and keep him with a headache.
“I know the boys and everyone’s are focused on the same targets so if we can achieve them it will be a happy club all round.“