Collins anxious to keep Bellamy quiet

10:18am Friday 21st November 2008

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DANNY Collins will face “the loudest man in football” on Sunday, but the Sunderland centre-half is determined to keep Craig Bellamy’s feet quiet when West Ham visit the Stadium of Light.

Bellamy has developed a reputation for ranting and raving during a 12-year career that has included a lengthy spell at Sunderland’s arch North-East rivals, Newcastle.

Collins boasts extensive first-hand experience of the striker, having played against him on a number of occasions and partnered him even more frequently during his time with the Wales national team.

He expects to receive an earbashing during Sunday’s televised game, but is desperate to ensure Bellamy has nothing to brag about once the final whistle is blown.

“Craig is probably the loudest man in football,” said Collins, whose self-imposed international exile meant he did not play alongside the West Ham striker in Wednesday’s friendly between Wales and Denmark. “He’s always moaning and if you’re not ready for it, it can be a bit offputting.

“He works as hard as anyone in training, and that transfers into his performance and attitude on a match day. He’s fully focused on what he does and what he wants to achieve, and I have time for him as a player.

“But he moans and whinges constantly, and I think some defenders find that difficult to deal with. That won’t be the case with me because I’ll be expecting it, but it can be a bit unsettling if you’re not used to it.

“You just have to turn a deaf ear and let him get on with it. He moans more than any other player I know, but I guess that’s just his way of showing he wants to win. I have to make sure his words count for nothing.”

Sunday’s game offers Sunderland an opportunity to improve on a poor home record that has seen them claim just seven points from their six league games at the Stadium of Light.

The standard of their play has not been too bad, but after their superb home form kept them in the Premier League last season, the Black Cats can ill afford to pick up bad habits at their own ground if they are to improve on May’s 15th-placed finish.

Collins accepts that results have not been good enough, but claims that, with Sunderland having impressed in periods of their seven home matches, it will only be a matter of time before everything clicks into gear.

“One of these days, everything’s going to go for us and we’ll put 90 minutes together that will get us a really good result,” he said. “We’ve played well in the first half of a few games, but only gone in at half-time at 0-0 or 1-0 up.

“If we can take our chances and go in at 2-0 or 3-0, the confidence will be totally different in the second half. We can go out after the break, relax and play more of our football.

“We know we need to address the home form because it’s probably been the biggest disappointment of the season so far.

“It’s not as though we’ve been playing poorly at home – I think we’ve been playing fairly well – it’s just the results haven’t necessarily been coming.”