James Collins: I'm part of the best West Ham squad I’ve seen but want my chance to play

Staying power: Collins thought about leaving club in the summer but was convinced to wait for his chance
(Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
Ken Dyer22 September 2015

James Collins believes West Ham’s squad is “by a distance” the best he has seen in his considerable time at the club.

Good news, then, for Slaven Bilic and his first-choice team but, as Collins also points out, not necessarily to his own advantage.

The experienced Wales international is hoping for his first competitive start — if you ignore the Europa League qualifying competition — in West Ham’s Capital One Cup third-round tie at Leicester tonight.

If so, the 32-year-old defender admits the pressure is on to convince his manager that he is worth a longer run in what is fast becoming one of the surprise early season packages of this campaign.

Collins, who came on for the last five minutes of the thrilling victory at Manchester City, is in the final year of his contract and his future is, as he points out, still uncertain.

“I spoke to the gaffer at length about the situation,” he said. “I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted to and having just turned 32, that’s not ideal.There were a couple of opportunities to go before the deadline but it didn’t seem right for me.

“I didn’t want to drop down to the Championship, I feel I have something to offer in the Premier League and I’m enjoying it here. I know I’m not playing but the gaffer emphasised that things can change.

“I love being here, I love the club — the fans. I did think that maybe I was going to have to leave but I didn’t really force it.

“We’ve just had our third child — a son named Jesse — so the timing wasn’t right. I decided to stay and hopefully get some more game time.”

Collins has had two spells at Upton Park totalling seven seasons interspersed by three years at Aston Villa.

“When I came back [in August 2012], the plan was to finish my career here,” he added. “It was nice to be involved at City on Saturday and help see out the game. It has been a long time coming so it was good to get out there and show people I’m still here!

“We know now that if we defend well, the boys we have in the attacking third are some of the best we’ve had at West Ham in my time. We defended well in games last year but if we conceded first, we’d wonder where would we get two goals from to win.”

Bilic will make changes tonight but will want to do better in the Capital One Cup than in the Europa League, when his team failed to make the group stages. “It’s a strange one,” admitted Collins. “The boys who played in the Europa League and who haven’t been regulars since would have wished we had stayed in it so they could get some game time.

“But the League form of some of the teams who have been playing in it in recent seasons has suffered terribly.

(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

“We’re looking to do well in the cups. This is the best squad I’ve seen at West Ham by a distance. The players we’ve signed now are used to playing in high-profile games. That’s the way this club are going and it’s going to be huge over the next couple of years.”

Collins has a similar challenge internationally, where he must force his way back into a Wales team who are expected to qualify for next summer’s European Championship. Wales are hoping that Gareth Bale will have recovered from injury in time for their two qualifying matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by Andorra.

“I’ve spoken to Gareth,” said Collins. “He has a little problem with his calf but he’ll rest up and be ready.

“I told him, ‘Don’t worry about playing for Real Madrid — just make sure you’re fit for Wales!’”

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