Doncaster Rovers striker James Collins says he’s determined to repay Grant McCann for showing faith in him

Experienced EFL marksman James Collins says he can’t wait to get back on the pitch and help his teammates in the weeks and months ahead after joining Doncaster Rovers on a short-term loan deal until January.

The 35-year-old forward, who has scored over 200 career goals across spells at Derby County, Luton Town and Cardiff City among others, formed part of the Lincoln City team that won League One last season - and was handed a new one-year contract with the Imps in January despite sustaining an ACL injury just a month earlier.

He’s currently in the latter stages of his rehabilitation process having not featured since December, which means according to Lincoln City’s club website, he could be back playing by around November or December.

Lincoln decided to loan Collins due to rules which state that Championship clubs are only able to register 25 players in their squad.

After being made aware of Lincoln’s intentions, Collins explains that Grant McCann was the first person to reach out to him about the prospect of a move.

He told the club media: “I’m really pleased. I’m glad it’s done now. It’s been going on for a couple of days. I spoke to the manager about his thoughts and I was pleased to speak to him and listen to what he had to say. So to finally get it over the line, I’m really pleased.

“The gaffer at Doncaster was the first person to call and say he was really interested in bringing me to the club and hearing that after being out for 10 months, and that someone wants to take a chance on you and get you back fit and give you the opportunity to play against, it was a great feeling. I was really pleased he made that phone call.”

The 13-time Republic of Ireland international has been a part of three promotion-winning teams from League One and has regularly been among the top scorers in the division. He notably scored 25 for Luton Town in 2018/19 to make the PFA Team of the Season while as recently as 2024/25 in his first six months at Lincoln he made an instant impact scoring 10 in his first 20 league appearances.

Rovers fans will hope the striker can hit the ground running when he does eventually take to the field.

Collins went on to discuss just how focused he is on his recovery and getting up to speed.

He added: “I think you take football for granted a bit when you’re fit and available and you’re playing every week, but once it gets taken away from you, you realise how much you miss it.

“My focus now is getting back fully fit as quickly as possible and helping Doncaster Rovers be successful this season.

“I firmly believe I can play a big role here. Score goals and help the team be successful and hopefully that will go hand in hand with the gaffer. He gave me the opportunity to come here and play some football and I can repay him and the fans with some goals.”