There is not a better strike partnership in League One and Bristol Rovers star Aaron Collins says it is a "joy" to play in tandem with "phenomenal" Middlesbrough loanee Josh Coburn.
Collins has been arguably League One's best player this season, leading the league for both goals (13) and assists (10), but it is the devastating connection he has formed with the 20-year-old Teessider that has given Joey Barton's side genuine aspirations of bursting into promotion contention.
With nine goals in 15 appearances, Coburn has the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the division with 129 and he is remarkably efficient, taking just 24 shots to tack up those numbers.
Those stats have been boosted by the first-class service he has received from Collins, who has assisted six of the nine. The other three were effectively made by the Welshman, too, with his actions – such as the dummy at Sheffield Wednesday or – leading directly to the chances which Coburn has taken so ruthlessly.
While Coburn does not have an assist to Collins in return, the pair have developed a symbiotic relationship on the pitch, bringing the best out of each other.
“Since he’s come in, he’s been phenomenal,” Collins said. “It’s his whole work rate as well as the goals he’s come up with. Playing with Josh, It’s been a joy and hopefully, we can go on until the end of the season, and keep setting each other standards where we can push on to score more and more and assist each other for our team to go and get three points.
“With Josh, it’s great because we’re playing as either two up front or I’m playing behind him and there’s been so many times where he’s left 1vs1 in the box, where I’ve drawn another centre-half out, and I know exactly where to find him if I pull that ball across the front stick, he’ll be there to find it and, I think, I’ve assisted him five times out of his eight goals and maybe four of them have literally been passes across the box, one-touch finish and he’s been able to score from it. Hopefully, this can carry on.”
Collins' natural traits have always made him a dynamic player, with a penchant for scoring from long range, but this season he has started scoring different types of goals – the kind one would expect from a number nine, penetrating between the centre-backs and finishing ruthlessly. His tidy finish against Cheltenham Town on New Year's Day is a prime example.
He puts down his rapid improvement as a scorer over the past 12 months down to being thrown in at the deep end last season, leading the line when Brett Pitman and Leon Clarke proved not to be the starting centre-forwards Barton needed.
“Playing in the 9 last season and having that focal point on me brought a lot into my game,” Collins said. “(Against Cheltenham) I made that run in between the two centre-halves, Sam Finley’s found me with a great ball and I’m able to slot it home.
“If I didn’t play as the 9 for the majority of last season, getting the goals to get my confidence up and start believing I’m a proper goalscorer then maybe then I wouldn’t be in that position this year. The position I’m playing this year is a lot different to last but I’d like to think it’s my best position where I have someone up top with me.”
Despite inevitable talk linking him with a move up the pyramid, Collins knows he is in a great situation with the Gas and his belief in himself has never been higher.
“It’s confidence, everything you do, you just believe you’re going to do the right thing," he added. "You don’t second-guess yourself, you just go and do it. The goals and assists, I’m not questioning myself, I’m doing it with my instincts and what I’m good at and it’s paying off.
“It’s (about) being comfortable as well, doing it at a club you love, doing well individually and pushing the team to whole new heights.”
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