James Collins has started to think about international football again – but knows that his Republic of Ireland future depends on Luton staying in the Championship.
The Hatters hitman scored on his full international debut against Bulgaria in September and then earned two more caps in October’s European Championship qualifiers against Georgia and Switzerland.
The summer international tournament would have started this week, but the Coronavirus pandemic saw the competition postponed until next summer, with Eire’s play-off with Slovakia now rescheduled for October 8.
Collins’ immediate concern is the resumption of domestic Championship football, with second-from-bottom Luton set to host Preston North End on Saturday after three months without any action. But that has revived hopes of further selection for Ireland.
“I’ve started to think about it a bit more now that I know the season is starting again. I spoke to the new Ireland manager (Stephen Kenny) over the break and he had a Zoom meeting with all of the squad, so it was nice to touch base with him.
“He explained the schedule, leading up to Christmas, so I have had a think about it.
“But if I’m not playing well for Luton Town and if I’m not playing in the Championship then, obviously, I’m not going to get picked. I need to make sure my club form is good and, hopefully, the rest will take care of itself.”
Collins’ previous caps came under the former manager Mick McCarthy, so he knows he will have to impress new boss Kenny.
“I think he watched all the first team games, as he was the under-21s manager, so I think he’ll know about the majority of the squad,” he said.
“It was nice to speak to him, he seemed a really nice guy and he’s going to have different ideas, like every manager, so it will be interesting to see what route he does go down.”
