James Collins in talks over Shrewsbury Town future

Shrewsbury Town striker James Collins will sit down with Meadow boss Graham Turner next week in a bid to sort out his future – and he is taking inspiration from former Town star Grant Holt.

Collins, who has been tracked by Watford and Coventry, knows the perils of moving on too soon.

And the 21-year-old's agent Joe Kennedy said Collins, who has been offered a two-year deal at Town, is open to the idea of staying at Shrewsbury.

"I've spoken to Graham Turner and we're going to sit down next week and discuss some revised terms," said Kennedy.

"What James wants is to be playing football. He doesn't want to go somewhere and just be a squad player.

"You look at players like Grant Holt and they are in the Premier League. We have seen players come into the Premier League too young. You look at Marvin Sordell who did it at Watford but then never got a look in at Bolton."

Kennedy added that Collins, who hit 16 goals last season, is keen to command a starting spot next term.

"He wants to go somewhere where he will play games," said Kennedy. "He wants competition for places and to earn his spot but he wants to be in the team.

"But I think he does need to do it (that scoring record) again. To a certain extent Championship clubs will be taking a risk on him.

"He's in no rush though. At the end of the day he is 21 years old so he is still young. If he can score 16 goals in 33 games at 21 then hopefully he will only get better."

Meanwhile, Town have begun major work to improve the state of the Greenhous Meadow pitch.

"The top clubs in the Premier League and the Championship plus several in League One do this kind of work every summer," said senior groundsman Andrew Muir, assistant to Richard Barnett.

"It should leave the pitch in tremendous condition for the start of the new season to help the team do well in League One."