NATHAN COLLINS HAS been tipped for a big season at Stoke City by his club-mate Joe Allen.
Stoke expressed their faith in Collins last week in the form of a new five-year contract, which the Irish central defender signed despite reported interest from Manchester United.
The 18-year-old has already tasted first-team action, having featured in three Championship fixtures towards the end of last season.
Allen believes Collins will continue his progress in the 2019-20 campaign, backing the former Ireland U17 skipper to feature prominently for the Potters.
“From day one of pre-season I’ve thought he’s going to play a big part this year,” the Welsh international told the Stoke Sentinel.
“He obviously had a couple of chances at the end of last season and took them with both hands. He’s impressed since he’s come back and he’s raring to go.
“He’s a good lad who wants to do well and, fingers crossed, I can be right with my premonition that he’s going to have a great season for this club and help us.
“There’s a lot of work to be put in and a long way for him to go, but I hope to see him in the Premier League one day. Hopefully with Stoke. He’s certainly got the tools for it — technically, and also in terms of his personality.”
The current status of two of Stoke City’s most experienced defenders is likely to increase Collins’ chances of being involved in Saturday’s Championship opener at home to QPR.
Club captain Ryan Shawcross is set for a long lay-off after fracturing his leg in a pre-season friendly against Leicester City, while Bruno Martins Indi is being linked with a move to Turkish side Besiktas.
Stoke manager Nathan Jones — who is seeking to bring in a “temporary replacement” for Shawcross — was asked about Nathan Collins during a Q&A session on Radio Stoke this week.
“We feel he’s ready,” Jones said. “There has been a lot of speculation with Nathan, but he’s a big part of what we want to do moving forwards. He’s relatively inexperienced just because of age and game-time, but he’s maturing by the day.
“We have to be very careful with his development so we don’t stunt it in any way. That’s two-pronged really: whether we give him enough game-time or too much too early. We have to be very careful.
“But we’ve got very high hopes. Every challenge we’ve given him since he came into our group he has dealt with quite comfortably.”
Collins, who’s a native of Leixlip, featured for the Republic of Ireland U19s in their successful bid to qualify for this summer’s European Championship.
However, he was one of several players prevented from travelling to the tournament in Armenia due to being required for pre-season preparations with his club’s first-team.
