"It’s all about the reaction now" - Collins wants a better mindset at Wanderers

AARON Collins hopes to help Wanderers begin “putting things right” in League One, starting with Saturday’s visit from Blackpool.

The Welsh striker gave his own confidence a boost with two goals against Fleetwood in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy last week but knows the Whites still have plenty to do in the league in order to win back fans’ hearts and minds.

Collins understood the anger and frustration shown after the heavy defeat against Stockport County and hopes the result will now act as a turning point for the campaign as a whole.

“I respect the fans for it, I mean, they turned out in their numbers as they always do, paid good money to watch their team get beat 5-0,” he said. “None of us want that.

“We are not happy in the changing room as the lads, and then as a collective with the staff too, we knew it wasn’t good enough.

“It’s all about the reaction now. We didn’t start this season that well, but we went on a good run after that going into Stockport.

“We know if we can beat Blackpool we will be that bit nearer to the top six and then hopefully go on a little run going into Christmas. But the main thing is that we get it sorted, start putting things right.”

Some of Bolton’s heaviest defeats in recent seasons have been against neighbouring teams in the North West, and Colins appreciates that score-lines such as the one at Stockport sting even more when local bragging rights are at stake.

With Blackpool in town this weekend and a game at home to Wigan Athletic also on the horizon, he is now keen to try and make amends.

“We totally understand that those games matter more to the fans and we need to have a bit more grit about us in that scenario,” he said. “The only thing we can do now is go and do it, there’s no point me saying a load of words and then there be no actions.

“As a team we know we need to be better than that, and we need to go into Blackpool with the right sort of mindset now. We can still change things and put them right.”

After Saturday, Bolton face a trip to Cambridge United on Tuesday night before another free weekend, owing to their exit from the FA Cup at the first-round stage.

Collins feels the timing of the current international break – and that of the Fleetwood trophy game – has helped the players move on from their disappointment at Edgeley Park.

“The little break going into the Blackpool game means there’s no excuses for most of us and the lads on internationals can have a bit of time away in a different environment, I think that helps as well,” he said.

“We got the win against Fleetwood, I’ve got a couple of goals which I know will help me, and we have to move on to Blackpool. We just have to make sure we’re in the right mindset.

“I think it would have been a tough 10 days if we hadn’t got that result but we can really focus now on making sure we are ready to push forward.”