Exiting central defender Danny Collins says the Blues can still make the play-offs despite sitting in 19th in the Championship at present. Collins returned to Stoke at the end of his 93-day loan yesterday.
The 31-year-old said: "I definitely think the play-offs are still possible. The games come thick and fast in December and January and if you put a run of wins together, I don’t see why we can’t be around the top six.
"I’ve had opposition players come up to me in matches and say ‘What’s going on here?’. They look round the talent of our squad and think we should be up near the top of the table, and I still think they should be at least pushing around the play-offs at the end of the season.”
Like his manager, Collins feels self-belief has been the big issue during his time at Portman Road: "Confidence is crucial. If you have four or five boys in the team where the confidence isn’t there, it is easy to see heads go down when you concede goals. I think that has happened in a couple of the games.
"Against Barnsley, it seemed to get to the point where the lads thought enough’s enough and we rolled our sleeves up and did it for the fans, the manager and ourselves. We turned it round and showed what we could do.”
Despite continuing links with Wolves and his one-time Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy, Collins says he’s not ruling out a return to the Blues or perhaps another Championship club in January: "I’m never going to say no. The Premier League is not the be-all and end-all. Of course I would consider offers from Championship clubs.
"The offer would have to be right but what matters most is being happy where you are and with how things are going.”
Collins, who has 18 months remaining on his contract with Stoke, made 16 starts for Town and scored three goals.
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