Around 25 minutes before Aaron Collins’ winning strike against Port Vale, the Welsh forward was called over to the touchline by Joey Barton during a break in play. A Vale player was being spoken to by referee Carl Brook over a rather industrial challenge on Lewis Gordon and Barton seized on the opportunity for a quick tactical assessment.
The pair were deep in conversation interspersed with various exaggerated arm movements, displaying which type of runs Collins was making versus the type of runs his manager wanted him to make.
The crux of the exchange lay in the fact that Barton felt he was running too much on the same line as Gordon, therefore offering a similar angle to the left wing-back as his teammates were looking for forward passing options. He thought Collins needed to cut into a central position more often, and profit more from Josh Coburn’s knockdowns as he battled manfully against Vale’s centre-backs.
Up to that point, Collins had been a bit of a peripheral figure or, at least, not providing the same impact and finesse that’s expected of him. As Barton admitted after the game he had considered substituting his top scorer as he wasn’t quite on it. A decision he was glad not to have made in the end.
Collins is a man who knows his own game and although taking on board his coach’s instructions actually disagreed with him, stating he felt moving too central would obscure the supply into Coburn, plus allow Vale’s defence to stay tight and compact as opposed to stretched if he was starting from the left. He wanted to bide his time.
In the end, both men could claim to be correct. Collins’ goal in the 87th minute arrived as he occupied a central position to profit from John Marquis’ ball forward, and justified his decision to pick his moment; from Barton’s point of view, that winner may well have come earlier in the game.
Nevertheless, it revealed Collins’ understanding of not just how to strike a football really well - 11 goals and counting - but his increasing awareness of his attacking teammates around him, their role and what they do - most notably Coburn, with the pair developing an impressive chemistry.
For the majority of last season, Collins filled in as a No9, whereas this term he’s been afforded the opportunity to play in his more natural second striker role, with Ryan Loft and the Middlesbrough loanee increasingly showing their qualities as targetmen. With each game together, they look stronger as a partnership, even if it doesn’t always produce multiple goals.
“It’s a pleasure playing with him,” Collins said. “He’s a 20-year-old lad, and look at what he’s doing. Since he’s come in, he got a goal early on from my assist and we have the two of us, and we’re causing trouble for defenders. He’s 20 but you see the way he’s battling and fighting, causing nuisance, and I can do my thing - pick up spaces - and hopefully assist him and score as many as I can off of him.”
Colleagues on the pitch and increasingly comrades off of it - Barton does breed the idea of a dressing room being united in matters beyond just 3pm on a Saturday - Collins admits getting to know each other’s personality and character helps how they communicate and play together on the pitch.
“The better you do get on with someone off the pitch the better your relationship is on the pitch,” Collins added. “We’re a tight-knit group - I see Josh every day and banter with him, we’re always having a laugh and then being on the pitch together you know how to take each other; maybe I’m having a go at him but he’d be like, ‘he’s saying the right things’ and there’s not arguments and we can agree to disagree, as well as both understanding what we’re saying.
“Josh will expect me to be in some places when I’m not and I’ll expect him to be in some places when he’s not. When we say it, the next time we know where to be.
“He’s had (scored from) assists, like where he’s scored off Evo against Bolton, where I’ve said, ‘just get across the front post’ and if I can put that ball in the box then I know he’s coming across the front post and can score from that. So we work on a relationship and obviously the longer it goes on, the more goals and assists there will be to come.”
With Collins and Coburn firing, Loft returning from injury and John Marquis regaining his match fitness, Rovers possess a multi-faceted attacking threat, which is further supported by Harvey Saunders and Antony Evans, Sam Finley and Scott Sinclair from midfield. Although they required a moment of individuality from Collins on Saturday, in what was a bit of a collective slog over the 90 minutes, they can summon goals from all over the pitch.
The excitement as to what this group is capable of is not just confined to the stands, as confidence and self-belief is a key construct of Barton’s Rovers and whenever anyone in the camp is asked as to what is possible, there’s no vague responses or cliches about “taking each games as it comes” etc - everything is said with absolute conviction.
Having lost just one of their last 11 League One fixtures and with a set of agreeable fixtures over the Christmas break, with January approaching and the chance to enhance what is already in the building, Collins very much shares his manager’s aim of promotion.
“We know we’ve picked up over the last 11 games,” Collins added. “We’re drawing too many games but it’s better than losing. We’ll hopefully now turn a lot of those draws into wins and we’re only three points off sixth. You look at the table and you know, if you go and win a couple of games over Christmas, you go into January and there’s a chance to go and push on.
“We’re looking forward to this Christmas period and then, from January, we proved last year, if you get a run going you can keep bouncing up the table and go and challenge for that promotion or play-offs.”
Individual consistency coupled with collective success can only further thrust Collins into the international picture for Wales after missing out on selection for the World Cup. Robert Page will unquestionably be looking to rebuild the Dragons ahead of the road to Euro 2024 in Germany as a number of stalwarts potentially come to the end of their time in a Wales jersey.
Newport-born Collins has made no secret of his desire to represent his country but, as has been the case throughout his rise at Rovers, he can only focus on his day job and further recognition should eventually follow.
“There was a little chance there but they’ve got so many good attackers it was always going to be hard to break into that team,” Collins said, of his Wales chances for Qatar.
“But I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing and, hopefully, if I get a chance next year for the qualifiers or friendlies then it’ll be a great achievement for myself. I’ve come into the season strong and my aim is just to carry this on.”
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