Ginge ready for Wales action

James Collins is looking forward to a crucial Euro 2016 qualifier against Israel on Saturday

West Ham United defender James Collins is ready for a crucial Euro 2016 qualifier for his country this weekend.

Wales take on Israel in Haifa on Saturday looking for the victory that would take them top of Group B and a step closer to the finals in France.

The expansion of UEFA's flagship tournament for national teams to 24 finalists has given Wales a genuine shot of qualification for the first time since 1976 and Collins is determined to take the chance.

He said: "I’m looking forward to going away with Wales and getting another game under my belt. I can’t wait, it’s a big game, Israel away is going to be a tough, tough game. If we win we go top of the group. It looks like we have a fully fit squad so we have a great chance.

"The main aim is to get to France 2016. That started with Speedo's time as manager. We’ve started this campaign well, it’s a tough group but with the squad we’ve got, we know we have every chance."

Collins goes into the game on the back of a victory over Sunderland with the Hammers - one which he believes was crucial.

He added: "We knew that if we kept a clean sheet we had a chance of winning the game on Saturday. Diafra stuck it in the back of the net so it was a nice moment.

"We knew it was going to be tough with a new manager coming in, the players will want to impress him and they caught us a few times in the first half to be fair. With Jermain Defoe playing you know he’s going to be a threat.

"Kev and a few other lads said before the game it doesn’t matter how we win, just that we do. It was a bit scrappy but we’ve got the ball rolling again.

"We want to finish as high as we can and end the season on a good run of form. The international break gives us a bit of a break between league games. We want to finish higher than tenth, that was the aim at the start of the season."