Staunton Brings In Striker

by Scott Thornberry - 22nd October 2009

staunton brings in striker

Steve Staunton has bolstered his squad before this Saturdays trip to Barnet with the addition of Aston Villa striker James Collins. The 19 year old joins the club on a three month loan deal to give him more first team experience.   The Aston Villa website describes the youngster as being prolific in for the clubs academy and reserve sides in recent years and will fill the gap left by the departure of Kevin Gall at the beginning of the week.

In the 2007/8 season Collins scored 23 goals for the academy team and built on this performance by notching 28 goals in last seasons Premier League Academy fixtures.

During the summer he also featured for the Republic of Ireland Under 19's so this may be where Steve Staunton has been given the tip off from.

Villas Academy manager Tony McAndrew is full of praise for the lad.  "James is a big influence on the team. When James plays well we generally play well. "He's very important to the side and he's been in a good vein of form. It's important for him as well because there is a lot of competition at the club with strikers. James is a different kind of striker to the other young lads we've got, but what he does do is score goals.

"He hasn't got blistering pace but he's got ability. He holds the ball up well, he's a good target, his work ethic is absolutely fantastic and he never lets centre halves have a minute's rest. To a point you could say he is a bit old fashioned.

Meanwhile former loanee Jamie Devitt has suprisingly joined up with Shrewsbury Town, the team he tore apart just days earlier.  The Hull City winger left the club after Saturdays victory against the Shrews, much to the disappointment of the fans.  There has been some confusing statements with regards to Jamies future at the club with Steve Staunton stating that Hull City had agreed for Jamie to stay but the winger wanted to return to fight for his place.  It looks even more bizarre now that he has signed up for the Shrews for a month.