Hat-trick hero James Collins admitted he should’ve scored more in the last three weeks, but that it didn’t play on his mind.
The Republic of Ireland striker fired a fabulous treble – his first ever in the Championship – to see off Preston North End 3-0 in front of 2,000 Hatters fans on Saturday.
It was the second time the 30-year-old had claimed the match ball this term and means he’s notched four in his last two games at Kenilworth Road to take his tally to nine for the campaign.
Collins could’ve had another hat-trick in the home match before that but Birmingham keeper Neil Etheridge pulled off a string of fine saves to earn a point
The forward then passed up good chances against Coventry and Swansea before finally filling his boots this weekend.
“I’m always honest. In the last four or five games, I should’ve had more goals,” said Collins
“Look at the Birmingham game, and I had a chance against Coventry as well, and one against Swansea.
“But that’s football. You’ve got to just keep getting in there, keep working hard, keep practising and eventually it will turn for you.”
Asked if his misses had played on his mind, Collins said: “No, never. It’s football. I’ve done it my whole career. I’ve missed better chances than what I’ve missed in the last three games, but you always go into the next game and you score and it’s forgotten about.
“The only disappointing thing is that we would’ve got more points because we would’ve won those games. If we won those games it wouldn’t have mattered. But, no, it never plays on my mind. That’s just football.”
Collins seemed a man full of confidence when he opened the scoring against Preston. He chested down a stunning cross-field pass from Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu to fire into the bottom corner.
Manager Nathan Jones revealed it was a move that he and second in command Mick Harford had been working on and Collins added: “For it to come off on a Saturday afternoon and put us 1-0 up, it makes it a little more special.”
And with 2,000 fans allowed in Kenilworth Road for the first time since fans were shutout at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, it gave Collins the chance to celebrate in front of Hatters supporters, having fired his previous nine in empty stadia.
Collins said: “I wish it was 10,000 but whatever’s going on in the world now, it’s lovely to have them back. That’ll only boost the lads, if more fans come in the lads will relish it more because they are like our 12th man. Hopefully more can be let in soon and we can keep producing performances like that.”
Collins’ haul means he has now netted hat-tricks for Luton in each EFL division and the Carabao Cup.
“I have been fortunate enough to score a few hat-tricks in my career but my first one in the Championship,” he said.
“I did have that tag of being a League Two striker that gets you promoted, but I think I managed to get rid of that when I went up to League One, and hopefully now people can see that I can score goals in the Championship too.”
After Town drew blanks in their last two outings, Jones hailed his 100th victory in his 200th game in charge of Luton as his best.
Collins said: “We always knew we had goals in the team. We always knew it was coming, but where it started from was being solid at the back and doing all the ugly stuff off the ball.
“That allows us to go forward and create chances and I thought we were excellent all over the pitch.”