James Collins blogs for whufc.com ahead of Saturday's game at his old club Aston Villa...
Hello everybody.
We had the Player Awards on Wednesday night and it was a good event for everyone. We’re in a good spot after the win last weekend and it was a chance for the boys to get together and interact with the fans so we had an enjoyable evening.
I voted for Cressy for Players’ Player and I was pleased to see him win the awards. He’s had a terrific season. It’s his first season in the Premier League, he’s such a young lad and he’s come on in leaps and bounds.
He’s scored goals, set them up too and I think he’s been really good. You see a lot of the full backs these days and it’s all about getting forward for them, but Cressy can certainly defend as well as delivering a great ball.
We’ve scored a lot of headers this year and a lot of that is down to him and Jenks, so he is a deserved winner I think.
From my point of view, the own goal at Man City and penalty at QPR were a bit unfortunate, but I’ve had a steady season. I had a couple of injuries and would have liked to have played more games, but I’m looking forward to the last three now and then into the summer with Wales.
The goal at City should be up for Goal of the Season. It was one of those, I probably wasn’t concentrating on the clearance as much as I can, but I could do it another 100 times and it wouldn’t go in the net. It’s only my second own goal so I haven’t scored too many like that.
Reece Burke has played the last two games and he has the legs next to me which is what I need as I’m getting on a bit! He’s been tremendous since he came in, up against a tough opponent in Bobby Zamora on his debut, and then Danny Ings who has scored a lot of goals last week.
He looked like he belonged there. We’ve got Reece Oxford coming through too, so there are a lot of young lads who look great. If he comes in and keeps performing it’s his shirt at the minute. If any of the boys come back it’s a tough decision for the Gaffer.
If we keep a clean sheet on Saturday it would be the first time we’ve kept three on the bounce this season. It’s going to be tough, because Bentake is bang in form at the moment.
Tim Sherwood seems to have come in and got them going. The FA Cup has given them confidence and when I was playing there it was always a great atmosphere to play in. Not quite like Upton Park, but loud and they love their football so I’m sure me and Stewie will get a bit of stick.
We got a good result when we went there last year and if we play like we know we can I’m sure we can get three points.
See you on Saturday
Ginge