Derby County striker James Collins says he is hoping to score ‘many more’ goals after bagging a brace in the 2-0 win away at Carlisle United.
The Irishman scored in the 18th minute before putting a penalty away in the 84th to give Derby their first league win in three games.
Manager Paul Warne said that Collins ‘stood out’ on Saturday, and now Collins is more motivated to score more for County to push them higher up the table and into the play-offs.
“It feels amazing,” he told RamsTV. “It’s a proud moment for myself and my family. It took a lot of games to get there but to get that number is fantastic. I’ve had my eye on it for a while, ever since I signed for Derby last summer. I wanted to hit it last year but I didn’t quite manage it so at the start of this year I wanted to get it done as quick as possible.
“I’m not stopping there, I want to keep going and hopefully I can get many more.”
When asked what his younger self would have made of scoring 200 goals, Collins replied: “He’d say you’re bonkers! I was never blessed with unreal talent as a kid but what I did, I worked hard and did my extra work and listened to people at the right time and always managed to be the one that sniffed out chances. I’m really proud of the achievement and it’s what every footballer wants to do, score goals.”
James Collins on Carlisle performance
On the performance at Carlisle, Collins said that the Rams rode their luck but but defended well.
“It was a bit scrappy at times and we rode our luck at times but I thought we defended really well. The back four and Joe Wildsmith have done really well and Korey Smith in front of them did a great job too. A clean sheet on the road is what you want though. It’s always about digging in.
“The Carlisle crowd were right behind them and they put us under pressure and put it in our box but the back four and forward line got us over the line.”