Striker James Collins is delighted to link up with many familiar faces in the squad as he sets his sights on earning his sixth promotion in his career with Derby County.
The 31-year-old has penned a two-year contract at Pride Park Stadium and becomes the eighth player to commit his future to the football club, alongside friends Conor Hourihane, David McGoldrick and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to name a few.
Collins is no stranger to League One football having helped Luton Town to promotion from the division during the 2018/29 campaign, and his 25 goals secured him the League One Player of the Season.
And now, after spending a season with Championship side Cardiff City, he is keen for a new challenge and is aiming high ahead of Derby’s Sky Bet League One campaign.
The striker spoke to RamsTV after putting pen-to-paper on his contract and covered a range of topics including his targets for the season, who he currently knows in the squad and what supporters can expect to see from him this season.
On Being A Derby County Player…
I’m really excited and I’m desperate to get back playing football again and scoring goals. I’m really excited to be here. The training ground is great and I’ve played at the stadium loads of times so I know how much of a good atmosphere it is and I’m looking forward to the challenge.
I spoke to the manager at Cardiff last year and he explained to me that he wanted to go down a different route which is fine. It’s football and it happens and this move happened during the summer. There were talks and interest and I spoke to the manager about the move. A lot of players I know have signed for the club so that was a big factor and we’ve built a great squad here so far so I’m excited to come here and be a part of it.
On Players He Already Knows At The Club…
I know Richard Stearman really well. I know Conor Hourihane and Jason Knight from Ireland and David McGoldrick, too. I know Nathaniel Mendez-Laing as well so I know four or five of them quite well. I spoke more with Stears about the club and he put in a good word for me. He was always on the phone seeing how it was going. It took a while but I’m really glad that I can get a couple of weeks under my belt before the start of the season.
On Playing Against Derby Before…
I remember I bundled it in over the line from a Lionel Ainsworth cross in the EFL Cup in 2012. The atmosphere in the ground is great, but I don’t think I’ve won here many times in my career. I won here with Cardiff last year but I was on the bench but the atmosphere is always unreal. The pitch is always immaculate and you just get a sense that this is a massive club with real passionate fans. It’s always usually been roasting here as well! But I’ve always really enjoyed playing at Derby and I’m glad I will be playing as a home player this year.
On Experiencing Promotions In The Past…
I’ve had five promotions as a player, four from League Two and one from League One. I’ve been really lucky in my career and have been part of some really good squads. To have any promotion on your CV is good but to have five I’m really proud of that so hopefully I can make it six this year. There is no going away from the fact that I was in my most successful time in my career at Luton. I signed there in League Two and left there in the Championship so to get back-to-back promotions there was great. I scored a lot of goals along the way on that journey. It was a tough decision to leave Luton but it was time for a new challenge when I moved to Cardiff, but I loved my time at Luton and scoring goals for a good club is great.
On What He Will Bring To The Club…
I will definitely bring experience and I will bring a bit of leadership as well. My plan is to score as many goals as I can in this exciting team and get us promoted. I think the Championship is where Derby deserve to be at a minimum and I will always work hard for the team. I always set my standards to work hard so I believe the harder you work, the luckier you get so I think the Derby fans can expect that from me.
On Pre-Season So Far…
I’ve had a good pre-season so far. I’ve been in for three weeks now and played 45 minutes at the weekend for Cardiff. I didn’t play in their game last night but I stayed fit, kept in good shape so I’m raring to go now.
