James Collins has explained why he chose to join Derby County in 2022.
James Collins been in professional football for 15 years now and has spent time across the football pyramid.
The striker began his career in Aston Villa’s academy and has spent time with clubs such as Shrewsbury Town, Hibernian, Luton and Cardiff City.
Collins has an impressive five promotions on his CV and had most recently spent the last three years in the Championship with the latter two teams before moving to Pride Park.
The 33-year-old left Cardiff to join Derby County that summer, with the Rams having just been relegated after receiving a hefty point deduction.
Despite their financial problems and interest elsewhere, Collins chose to join Derby and has since netted 30 goals in 94 appearances – becoming their top scorer this season as they look to return to the second tier.
Collins chose Rams over League One rivals
Having turned down Portsmouth, Collins has now explained why he joined Derby and why winning promotion would ‘mean the world’.
Speaking toDerbyshire Live, he said: “Promotion would mean the world to me. I was disappointed we didn’t get a chance at it last year.
“The reason I signed for Derby is to get us out of this league and if I managed to be a part of that this year, then it would mean everything to me and my family. My little boy would be over the moon. He’s the biggest fan of ours that we’ve got. To get promoted and have a crack at the Championship next year would be amazing.”
Why the 33-year-old can be the difference
James Collins played a huge role in trying to get Derby County last season too, but his failure to find the net in the latter stages of the campaign contributed to them missing out on the play-offs.
The striker scored eleven goals in League One last term, however only two of them came in the final three months.
Collins made his return from injury against Blackpool and went onto grab an assist against Portsmouth in his first start back.
The veteran will be well aware he needs to be back to his best in these final matches, having scored only once in six games before he was sidelined.
Collins is an extremely important part of the current squad and, with Dwight Gayle injured, his goals could be the difference between automatic promotion and the play-offs.
The post 'Over the moon': James Collins explains 'the reason' why he chose to join Derby County in 2022 appeared first on Derby County News.