Cheering Aston Villa fans mixed up James Collins with Steve Sidwell!

Oct 25 2009 by Lisa Smith, Sunday Mercury

Of the plaudits being heaped on Collins in recent weeks is that the fan’s favourite is now a replacement for Laursen – Villa’s former “Captain Lionheart” who was forced to hang up his boots last season through injury.

Collins said he was happy to follow in the great man’s footsteps and honoured to be compared to him so soon.

“That’s not daunting for me,” he said. “But it is nice, I came in knowing Martin was a tremendous player and a fans’ favourite for Villa.

“But it’s a quite a good thing really knowing I had someone to strive to and I hope I perform as well as him.”

All the adulation could well continue if Villa’s results progress as they have done in recent weeks and that could mean seeing the name Collins on the back of even more Villa supporters’ shirts this season.

“It will be the first time!” Collins quipped. “ I don’t think anyone’s ever pulled on my shirt before. But this is a great club to be around and I’m enjoying my time here.

“Joining a new club is always a bit daunting. You obviously want to impress. Meeting the boys and the staff you want to make a good impression.

“ Luckily we had a game almost straightaway and I could go straight into that. Luckily I performed well and things went on from there.”

Collins joined on the eve of the recent Blues-Villa derby which also helped him win over his instant army of Villa fans after helping the team to a 1-0 win.

But the ginger warrior admitted, back at his former club, it was his “performance” on the night he put pen to paper on his four-year deal at Villa which really drew attention.

James Collins is the second player at Villa with that name and on the day Collins Senior signed, James Collins Junior – one of Vila’s young academy stars – was playing in a reserve match.

“The day I signed I was chatting to some of the guys at West Ham and they were saying I was in the reserves,” Collins said. “Luckily for me I wasn’t!”