Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton claims “it’s only a matter of time” before Aaron Collins earns his first call-up to the Wales squad, if the Gas striker continues his rate of development for the Gas.
Collins claimed his fifth assist of the season when he danced his way down the left channel past two Cambridge United defenders before sending in a low cross for Josh Coburn to convert and seal a 2-1 win at the Mem. The 25-year-old now has 11 goals contributions for the 2022/23 campaign - one every 96 minutes.
He has made a seamless transition from League Two into the third tier, bringing creativity as well as panache in front of goal, and Barton is confident the level of his performances, the consistency of his production and the fact there is still more to come, will have attracted interest from Wales scouts.
After the September international break, Rob Page won’t name another squad until his 26-man group for the World Cup is confirmed later this month, which does appear ambitious for Collins. But certainly beyond Qatar 2022, the Newport-born forward is firmly in contention to make another step up in his career.
"I thought it was great work from Aaron Collins," Barton said. "Lots of goals for Azza but also the assists and the goal contributions and he's becoming a real talisman of the team.
"He hasn't trained all week because he had a little bit of a problem and on Thursday he was touch and go whether he was going to make the game but we were delighted when he gave the thumbs up and you can see he's got his tail up and looks a real threat.
“If you’re in the Wales camp, you’ll be monitoring everybody who’s got a Welsh passport and is playing really well. It’ll be a bit of a long shot for him but who knows? You never know what’s around the corner.
“For me, if he was English, he wouldn’t get in the England squad scoring in League One but there’s a good chance you’ll get in the Northern Ireland, Wales or even Scotland squad, banging them in, in League One - that’s the reality of it.
“He’s just got to keep doing the business for Bristol Rovers. He’s got to keep being a great team person and working his trollies off every single day and it’s only a matter of time before Aaron gets an international cap on the trajectory he’s currently on."
The way Collins is playing, which has been a consistent positive throughout what proved a challenging month of September for the Gas, is evidence of a player operating with supreme confidence, even when results haven’t fallen Rovers’ way.
The draw at Exeter City last weekend and the wins over Crystal Palace Under-21s in the EFL Trophy and now Cambridge United has ensured Barton’s side start to put some daylight between now and that nine-game winless run, in all competitions, with the self-belief and swagger once again growing in the squad ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to MK Dons.
For Barton, it’s the secret ingredient for any successful team with the challenge lying in generating and then maintaining it, something that’s increasingly hard to do amid unpalatable results and all the injury issues they’ve experienced up to this point.
“Confidence is everything and we’re fully aware of the scraps we’ve had here, drawing games we felt we should have won, and there is no greater drug in football than winning games and getting that shot of confidence, especially when you’re in a young group and in a new league, and especially when you’ve got a passionate fanbase behind you,” Barton added.
“I think that will do us the world of good, but I think that was built on Exeter last week. We had great away support and the lads dug in and got themselves back in the game late doors with the equaliser. That allowed us to take momentum into Tuesday night and win that comfortably and it allowed us to bring even more momentum into the stadium today.
“I think confidence is that secret recipe that every single person in football cannot have enough of and that (the win over Cambridge) will go no end to improving our lads’ confidence and helping us start kicking on now and driving up the table.”
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