Derby’s celebrations continued long into the night on Saturday after sealing their return to the Championship.
The reward for Paul Warne’s men, aside from playing second-tier football next season, is a trip to Las Vegas, allowing the players to unwind before the real graft begins.
Warne has a lot of work to do in the transfer window as 12 players see their contracts expire at Pride Park, including top scorer James Collins.
The 33-year-old scored the second goal in their 2-0 win over Carlisle United, his 19th strike of the season, to help seal the Rams’ destiny.
Collins is one of few players likely to be given a contract extension, as despite approaching the twilight years, is still a reliable asset to have in the Championship.
Despite missing eight games through injury towards the end of the campaign, the Republic of Ireland talisman was still a vital cog in Warne’s promotion push.
The former Cardiff City striker scored many important goals, including a brace in the 3-0 win over Barnsley, the late winner against Cheltenham and the opener against Portsmouth in September.
Surprisingly, Collins didn’t name any of those moments as his stand-out across this season, instead picking out their comeback win against Oxford United.
At this point, Derby were fourth in the table and Oxford were also challenging for promotion, with the Rams rescuing a two-goal deficit away from home to seal a 3-2 victory in December.
Collins believes this was their ‘stand-out’ moment in the campaign as from January onwards Warne’s men were consistent, winning 14 of their final 23 matches.
Speaking on the Official EFL Podcast, Collins said: “The one that stands out for me the most is Oxford away.
“We were 2-0 down and Oxford were still fighting for the top two at that point but we end up winning the game 3-2. Ever since then we’ve been really really consistent and obviously there’s hiccups on the way but the majority of the time we’ve been really consistent and I think that moment really stands out for me.”
Collins has become a fan favourite at Derby and scoring 19 goals in all competitions perhaps warrants a new contract, although his Championship record is far from convincing.
During spells at Luton Town and Cardiff City, the veteran striker netted 27 goals in 114 appearances.
It’s a record that hardly screams off the page as clinical, especially considering he’s scored 70 goals in 192 League One matches.
But, given Derby are light on options at striker and bringing in a proven goal scorer would cost a pretty penny, Warne may consider renewing his deal.
The former Rotherham United boss has got the best out of Collins recently and hopefully, he can carry this season’s form across to the second tier while proving the doubters wrong.
