CAPTAIN Scot Bennett believes former Newport County AFC prospect Aaron Collins can make it to the top of the game but he’s determined to shackle the teenage striker today.

Collins left Rodney Parade for Wolverhampton Wanderers in January in a deal believed to be worth £100,000 and is now on loan at the Exiles’ League Two rivals Notts County.

The two sides meet at Meadow Lane this afternoon and Bennett – himself a former Notts player – is relishing the contest with Collins after the 19-year-old scored a stunning goal in the FA Cup in midweek.

The skipper said: “It will be nice to see him and have a little chat but it would be nice to put one over on him as well and maybe give him one or two little kicks while we’re out there to slow him down.

“Azza’s pace is something that we’ll be looking to control if he’s playing.

“We’ll have the strength but he’ll have the pace and it will be a good contest.

“He’s a good player, he’s improving week by week and it’s nice to see him doing it.

“I think when he was here last year he showed just in training – he didn’t really get a lot of game-time – the ability that he had.

“And if he knuckles down and sorts his attitude out – and he seems to be doing that – I think he could go to the top.

“Hopefully he has an off day against us and he’s not putting them in the top corner like he did on Tuesday night.”

Today’s hosts are managed by former Newport boss John Sheridan and winger Alex Rodman, who followed Sheridan to Nottingham in the summer, is also in their ranks.

Rodman faces a race against time to prove his fitness ahead of the match after a groin injury forced him off during half-time of the 2-2 draw against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup on November 6.

He subsequently missed last week’s 4-0 drubbing at Blackpool and the 2-0 replay win over Boreham Wood.

Sheridan’s men are eighth in the table but have won only once at home in League Two this season and Bennett says the Exiles can exploit that.

“They’ve struggled at home a bit this year and last year and it is a place that if you go there and silence them in the first five or 10 minutes the crowd can get on their back a little bit and it’s then tough for them to overturn that,” said the former Notts defender.

“We’ll be looking to do that to try to get the crowd on their backs.

“They’re a massive club for this league and they should be higher than they are.

“The fans expect them to be up there challenging so if you can go there and get an early goal it puts them on their backs straight away.”