Aston Villa: James Collins won't Ham it up if he scores

Nov 4 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

“I enjoyed my time, always tried to perform the best I could and the West Ham fans appreciated that.

“It’s always a great atmosphere there, their fans are tremendous home and away. It will be a strange day going back there, but one that I am looking forward to.”

Collins has become an instant hero at Villa Park and has no regrets about swapping a relegation battle for a Champions League push – even though he is backing the Hammers to stay up.

“I have left now for a club striving to get in the top six or even the top four, so like any game I will be going there looking to win for Aston Villa,” he said.

“I’ve been keeping a close eye on their results and they’ve had some tough games.

“They have a good manager and a good group of players there so I’m sure they can turn it around.

“I was in the same position with them three years ago.

“We were in a real dogfight virtually all season and it is tough when you are down there to try to get out of it.

“Unfortunately they’ve had to sell a few players, including myself, and they’re working with what they’ve got there.”