Confident Collins still wants to end the season with the Golden Boot
The striker is brimming with confidence after shaking off his injury problems
Missing more than a third of the season has not put off Aaron Collins from setting his sights on the League Two golden boot.
The 28-year-old has barely kicked a ball for MK Dons this season after suffering two lengthy yet unrelated injuries in quick succession, forcing him out of the opening 17 matches of the campaign.
Having topped the charts for Bolton Wanderers in League One last season, Collins set his sights high after making the move to Milton Keynes in the summer, admitting in pre-season he was keen to be the leading man in the division this term.
Back to full strength following a fractured shoulder and a hamstring tear, Collins has a ten-goal margin between himself and current top-scorer Aaron Drinan - who netted a hat-trick against Dons in the Vertu Trophy a few weeks ago - while in-house, he has to hit six before levelling up with Alex Gilbey and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy.
“I’ll be chasing down Rush and Gilbs, getting up to six and kicking on,” Collins confidently declared. “I want to be top scorer, that’s my job. I want as many goals as possible.
“Rush is now out, and has been scoring but I’ve got to do what he’s done now. Not everyone is going to be fit, so while Rush has been scoring the goals for us, I’ve got that on my shoulders now to take his spot and do it as well.
“I’m looking forward to being back now. I’m itching to get back and help.
“I came into the season aiming for 15-20 goals, I wanted to go for the golden boot in the league. I don’t doubt myself, I’ll push to get as many as I can, but I’ve missed 17 games so it will be tough. I’ll help any way I can and if that means scoring as many goals as I can, I know that will help.”
While he sees himself as an out-and-out striker, Collins said he can offer the team a lot more than just his finishing, which head coach Warne heavily praised in recent weeks.
“Every player offers something different,” Collins added. “I’m classed as a striker, but I like to be a link-up player as well. There are a lot of facets to my game which I think can help. But the main thing is to get more points on the board. We still know we’ve got so much more to give.”