'Natural leader' Collins nets Bees' winner
- Published
Nathan Collins celebrated being named Brentford captain by scoring the only goal of the game in the Bees' pre-season win over Queens Park Rangers.
Collins, who joined Brentford in 2023, glanced in Michael Kayode's left-footed cross early in the game as Keith Andrews' side built on a pre-season draw with Portuguese side Gil Vicente.
On a landmark day for 24-year-old Collins, he said of his new captaincy role: "It's a massive honour to be captain of this great football club. There have been some great people and footballers before me.
"I'm really excited by the challenge of this season and, with your support, it'll be a special campaign."
Collins succeeds the departing Christian Norgaard in taking the armband.
Andrews added: "Nathan's someone I've known since he was around 14 years of age, coaching some of the Ireland youth teams.
"He's always been a natural leader, he's gained a lot of experience considering the age that he is, and he's developed his professionalism to a new level because he's been involved in this environment for a couple of years and has learnt from some great people.
"He communicates very well, he's got really good values, on and off the pitch, and, naturally, players gravitate towards him - he has respect from all the players and staff, which is a key attribute to have.
"Nathan is a brilliant fit, but he's just one player and he needs the support of all of us and all the players within the dressing room.
"We've got some fantastic experience, which will include a leadership group that's been selected around Nathan and they will all have a voice in how we do things, because I'm big on player involvement in the process, what we do, and how we do it."