Nathan Collins determined to 'bounce back' after Greek setback
Nathan Collins admits his Greek Tragedy won’t be his last forgettable act of life as a defender.
Stephen Kenny hooked the centre-back at half-time of last October’s Euro qualifier after Gus Poyet’s side raced into a two-goal lead.
Collins was considered one of the successes of Stephen Kenny’s reign but was exposed in that calamitous 45 minutes at Lansdowne Road, especially during the counterattack that led to Georgios Masouras nabbing the second.
The 22-year-old – who again broke the transfer record for an Irish player by moving to Brentford in 2022 for £23m – was dropped for the second part of the double-header three days later against Gibraltar.
Marking some of the best strikers in the world every week in the Premier League places the Celbridge man under scrutiny so he doesn’t wallow in the few blemishes endured over a generally promising start to his career. Collins was restored to the starting team for the final qualifier away to Netherlands, a status expected to remain under John O’Shea for the interim boss’s first game at the helm on Saturday against Belgium (5pm).
“I’d prefer if it never happened again but there’s every chance it could,” said Collins, reflecting on that experience from six months ago.
“If you talk to any player in the world, it’s happened to them.
“Stephen was nothing but great for me. He gave me my debut and everything really, I’d started the previous 16 games in a row.
“He’s given me so much but that’s football. It’s how you bounce back from it and learn.”
Winning was an elusive commodity under the four-year reign, a deficiency O’Shea has spoken of eradicating in his short stint in charge.
Doing so against the fourth-best team in the world, even without their absent skipper Kevin de
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