Former Bristol Rovers favourite Aaron Collins has insisted that he still has fond feelings for his old club ahead of returning to the Mem on Saturday with Bolton Wanderers but insists it’ll be business as usual for him and his current employers.
Collins joined the Gas from Forest Green Rovers in the summer of 2021 with Rovers freshly relegated from League One. Although it took some time for the forward to start firing in blue-and-white quarters, once he got his first goal – a screamer in the FA Cup against Oxford United – he and his teammates never looked back.
The Welshman went on to score another 16 goals that campaign, 15 of which coming in League Two as Rovers romped up the league table to clinch automatic promotion on goals scored in the most dramatic of fashions on the final day.
Collins then took to life in League One like a duck to water, scoring 16 goals and registering 12 assists which saw him go on to be named the division’s player of the season.
Admittedly, the forward struggled for form in the first half of last season while still a Gas player and the timing of his January move to promotion hopefuls Bolton felt right.
The Rovers promotion hero scored one of his nine goals that season in a Bolton shirt back at the Mem in April but, had you said that the Welshman and the Whites would be coming back to BS7 for a league fixture the following campaign at that point, it would’ve come as a major surprise.
The Wanderers were left shell-shocked at Wembley back in May as they were beaten 2-0 by Oxford United in the play-off final in a game where they simply didn’t turn up.
Over six months on and, although this campaign has been difficult at times for Bolton, they seem to be picking up form ahead of their trip to Bristol and Collins admits he’ll always have a place in his heart for his former club.
“I had a great two-and-a-half years there and I will always enjoy playing there,” the forward told Bolton’s matchday programme, as quoted by the Bolton News. “I got to go back there at the end of last season and got a goal, which changed the game and we went on to win.
“It is always a pleasure going back there because everyone knows the club holds a place in my heart.
“It has been there with me since a young age so it is nice going back to the Mem, but the main thing being here with Bolton is going there and getting three points.
“I managed to do what I needed to do last season when I scored and we won. It might have been muted celebrations but the feeling of scoring and getting three points doesn’t go anywhere still.”
Similarly to last season, the 27-year-old had to wait some time for his first league goal of the campaign, an effort in the 2-1 home win over Burton Albion on October 19, having scored against Barrow in the EFL Trophy and an excellent goal he’ll cherish forever against Arsenal at the Emirates in the League Cup.
However, going into Saturday’s game Collins has scored four goals in his last four appearances, something that Gasheads will be concerned about.
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“I didn’t manage to get my first goal for a while at the start of this season and obviously that has been frustrating being a striker,” the forward admitted.
“But now I am in the flow and it is nice because you go into every game believing you are going to score, and that is a good feeling.
“Usually with strikers, they say it is about confidence and consistency. When you have that, it carries on and hopefully you can help the team flow at the same time.
“It has been enjoyable,” he added on his time so far in the North West. “We obviously had the down at the end of last season, but we can only come back stronger this season and get ourselves where we should have been.
“It is the whole goal of being here, to fight for promotion. Having that experience for three months last season and then being able to have the whole season now to go and try to get the club back in the Championship, where it belongs, is exciting.
“I have enjoyed being here so far and I have got another two-and-a-half years as well, which makes me more excited.”