Collins wants to stay with Luton for the long term

The striker’s deal which was due to run out in the summer of 2020, had an extra year added to it following the recent promotion-winning campaign in which he scored 20 goals, 19 of them coming in the league.

Although Collins’ new contract would take him past his 30th birthday, he is already looking beyond that, as speaking exclusively to the News/Gazette from holiday in Portugal, the former Crawley frontman said: “That was the agreement at the start of the season, if we get promoted and I play a big part in that then I get the extra year.

“I’ve got three years left at the club now and I want to stay longer, those three years is not really the end.

“I want to be there for three years and I want to extend it beyond that as it’s a club where I feel happy.

“The fans have been great with me, I love playing for the gaffer, love playing for the boys, so three years left is obviously great security for me and my family, but hopefully we can go on and do well this year and extend it longer.”

On just why he was so settled, Collins added: “It’s a club going in the right direction, it’s not a club going sideways or backwards, it’s a club that’s going forwards.

“It’s a massive club that deserve to be in the Championship or maybe even higher.

“So I want to be a part of that and I firmly believe I will be a part of that.”

The striker, who had enjoyed an excellent career in front of goal prior to signing, reaching 100 career goals for the likes of Shrewsbury, Northampton, Swindon and Burton along with Crawley, credits Town boss Nathan Jones for making him even better since arriving at Kenilworth Road.

He added: “Definitely, as when I first signed for him, he said he’ll improve me as a player. I think this year I have improved as a player, I’ve learnt different things about the game, different runs and I’ve scored all types of goals.

“He works with me religiously on that as he does with all the strikers, so I think that he’s got a massive part to play in me being up there in the scoring charts this year.”