Luton forward admits injury concerns could weigh on players' minds

James Collins delivers a cross during Town's match at Wigan in March

The increased chance of picking up injuries when returning to competitive football after so long out is a cause for some concern among players, according to Hatters striker James Collins.

Ahead of the campaign restarting on Saturday, reports from the Bundesliga in Germany showed a spike of more than three times the usual number of injuries when the season resumed last month.

Town host Preston North End this weekend after 14 weeks without a match due to the coronavirus pandemic, and unlike pre-season, will take to the field despite not having played a host of friendlies to gain much-needed match fitness.

When asked if he was worried, Collins said: “It might be a little niggle in your mind about getting knocks here, there and everywhere but that’s just down to you being professional and looking after your body.

“You know you’ve got nine games left and you’ve got to do everything you can to try and stay fit and look after your body.

“Whether that will be missing a days’ training because you feel a bit stiff or training a bit more because you feel like you need to do more, whatever the individual feels like they have got to do to be fit for the Saturday, Tuesday games then it’s down to the individual.

“We’ve got a professional group here, we’ve got lads that really look after themselves and we’ve also got staff that understand different players’ situation as well, i.e. coming back from long-term injuries and they can’t train as much and they’re really understanding. I think if everyone stays on track then we will be fine.”

With the news that Hatters' out of contract players are due to feature in the remaining nine games of the Championship campaign if selected, despite not knowing whether they will be offered a new deal by boss Nathan Jones, Collins added: "I think that just says a lot about the group that we’ve got here.

"Obviously we’ve got 12 lads out of contract and they’re all willing to play and stay with us until the end of the season so that just proves that we have a great group of lads in the dressing room.