Lincoln City striker James Collins has taken another important step in his recovery from the serious knee injury which ended his 2025/26 season prematurely.
The experienced forward has been out since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during City’s Vertu Trophy tie against Huddersfield Town in December. Collins subsequently underwent surgery, with the injury ruling him out of the remainder of the campaign as the Imps went on to win promotion to the Championship.
There has now been a positive update on the 35-year-old, with Tom Shaw revealing that Collins has been back outside at the Elite Performance Centre this week and is progressing well with his rehabilitation.
“He was doing some laps of the pitches this week, which is good to see him back out there,” said Tom in this week’s press conference.
“You hear him before you see him, James Collins, so you know he’s coming out. But he’s been amazing around the lads, he was at the back end of last year, just a huge support. It was a tough moment for him personally.
“It’ll be great to have him back training, and he’s well into his rehab now. The lads are looking after him.”
The sight of Collins running around the pitches represents encouraging progress after what was always expected to be a lengthy rehabilitation process.
Collins had scored six times in all competitions before the injury, having already established himself as an important member of the squad following his arrival from Derby County in January 2025. City demonstrated their faith in him during his recovery. An option in his contract was activated, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2027, meaning there is no immediate pressure surrounding his future while he works towards a return.
There is still no firm date for Collins to return to first-team training or competitive action, but reaching the stage where he can complete running work outside is another landmark in the rehabilitation of an injury suffered eight months ago.
Collins has considerable experience of working his way back from injury. During his time with Derby, he suffered another knee problem in February 2024, but returned ahead of schedule and subsequently scored in the victory over Carlisle United which confirmed the Rams’ promotion to the Championship.
His career has taken in more than 700 senior club appearances and more than 200 goals, beginning at Aston Villa before spells with the likes of Shrewsbury Town, Swindon Town, Hibernian, Crawley Town, Luton Town, Cardiff City and Derby. He enjoyed particularly productive years with Luton, scoring 68 league goals and helping them win successive promotions from League Two and League One, while he was named in the PFA League One Team of the Year in 2018/19. Collins has also won 13 senior caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring twice, and added another promotion to his CV when City won League One in 2025/26.
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