Bristol Rovers top scorer ‘on the radar’ of League One rivals after manager scouts him out

Aaron Collins has emerged as a potential transfer target for Bristol Rovers’ League One rivals Portsmouth, who are on the hunt for a new forward.

Less than a week after the whistle blew on the regular season, interest has emerged in one of their promotion heroes.

The 24-year-old finished as the club’s top scorer with 16 goals in League Two this season, including two in Saturday’s incredible promotion winning performance over Scunthorpe United.

A report from The Portsmouth claims that the front man is on a list of signings that Danny Cowley is mulling over with the Hampshire club without a contracted senior forward at the club.

It adds that he has yet to make a decision on whether to make a move or whether to scout out a striker that may come at less of a cost to him from the lower leagues.

The 43-year-old has been a spectator at the Memorial Stadium on a few occasions, with his most recent being the win over Bradford City in early April.

Cowley was also complimentary about Collins, as well as the two Anderson’s for their role in the win over The Iron.

Appearing as a pundit on the EFL on Quest as they disected the win and spoke of the achievement, he said: “I’ve watched them two or three times live in recent weeks and I’ve been really impressed with them,” said Cowley.

“Elliot Anderson, Harry Anderson and Aaron Collins just to name three in their attacking line carry so much goal threat.

“They’ve got such a rhythm to their performances. They were really close last week to losing at Rochdale and they managed to turn that game around.

“For them to win 7-0, I thought it was a brilliant performance by them. In terms of their quality of play, I thought they were outstanding.”

The former Wales Under-19 international has not played in League One before after spending most of his career in the fourth tier with loans at Notts County, Newport County and Colchester United, as well as permanent spells with Morecambe and FGR.

Collins enjoyed his most prolific season, scoring 18 goals in all competitions in 50 appearances. He had a slow start and failed to find the net in his first 18 matches in the quarters but after scoring five goals in his last two matches, he has by far eclipsed his career best of 11 last season.

He is under contract at the Memorial Stadium until the summer of 203 after joining on a free transfer from Forest Green Rovers following the expiry of his deal.

January signing Ryan Loft is also confirmed to be at the club as he signed a two-year deal when he joined from Scunthorpe in the winter transfer window. Experienced forward Leon Clarke is out-of-contract as is Brett Pitman, who spent the second part of the season on loan at Eastleigh in the National League.

Antony Evans and Sam Nicholson, who were both tried as forwards in the absence of a recognised striker, also have their deals up this summer.