Collison eyes first-team return

Published Apr. 19, 2011 3:15 p.m. ET

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The midfielder, 22, is set for another run-out with the reserves against Bolton on Tuesday night, in a game which is also likely to feature Kieron Dyer as he also builds up match fitness after a loan spell with former club Ipswich. The Hammers can do with all the extra help they can muster as manager Avram Grant looks to guide his men out of the bottom three although it is looking like a stern test with his former club Chelsea next up this weekend. While the trip to Stamford Bridge will come too soon for Collison, the Wales midfielder hopes it will not be long before he can get back into first-team contention. "I am ready and looking to do my bit," Collison told the club's official website. "I have only played a couple of reserve games, but I have been training for a long while now with the team. "The medical department have been brilliant to me. It's been a real team effort and they've been working hard with me around the clock. "They have got me back into good shape and I feel good and I'm ready to go. "It would be nice to have an opportunity between now and the end of the season to help the team out." Although only two points separate the Irons and safety, they have lost three in a row and next up after Chelsea is a trip to Manchester City. While it is a daunting prospect, having two of the final three games at home - to fellow strugglers Blackburn and fast-fading Sunderland as well as a six-point clash away to Wigan - could just save the Upton Park club from a return to the Football League. Irons legend Martin Peters has warned the current squad to fight to the very end to keep the east London club among the elite. The England World Cup winner, 67, who came through the youth ranks at the Boleyn Ground, said: "We have got some tough games - Chelsea and Manchester City away - but hopefully we might be able to win the last three. "I am sure all the players want to work hard, graft hard and work together. "You need them all working hard and working together, looking after each other. "They know what they have got to do - they have got to work their socks off. "If they can do that and get that little bit of luck, then you never know."