Collins welcomes clean slate

Published Aug. 29, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

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The defender clashed with former boss Gerard Houllier last season, along with fellow centre-half Richard Dunne. It appeared at one stage as though they would be forced out of the club, with the conflict doing no-one any favours. The pair have, however, been offered a clean slate under new boss Alex McLeish and Collins is hoping they can look forward to a productive future. "Me and Dunny want to try and write off last season," he said. "We were not at our best and we know that. "Both of us feel we can get back to being like the year we signed when we showed our best form. We just want to prove we are really good defenders. "We got a bit of criticism last year, but the training now has been great, completely different and so much better and we have benefited. "I'm enjoying it more and getting more out of it. Training is a million times better. The manager has played at centre-back and he knows what he is on about." On his relationship with Houllier, Collins added: "Everyone could see we had our differences. "It was more of a clash of personalities than anything else."