Derby County: Rotherham United and Leyton Orient target individual out-of-favour under Paul Warne | OneFootball

James Collins has struggled for minutes in the Championship this season, and is out of contract at the end of the season.

Leyton Orient and Rotherham United are reportedly interested in bringing Derby County's James Collins to League One this January, with the striker's game time at Pride Park limited so far this season.

That's according to Pete O'Rourke, with the 34-year-old appearing 17 times for the Rams in 2024/25. He has started only once after he helped the club to promotion from the third tier back in April.

He scored 19 goals in all competitions as the East Midlands outfit finished second behind Portsmouth last year, but this campaign has been a different story.

His manager at Derby, Paul Warne, has made no secret about bringing in more firepower up front this month, and Collins could make way to free up space in the squad to allow this.

Leyton Orient and Rotherham target Collins

As per the report, there are a number of clubs interested in the services of the striker, and a move could be made as early as this month in order to help both of them make the push towards the play-off places.

Collins is out of contract at the end of the season, and, therefore, he could move on in the summer for free, but with the battle for the top six so tight, it looks as though the League One pair are pushing to make that move happen sooner rather than later.

The former Cardiff City striker has spent two-and-a-half years with the Rams after joining on a free from the Bluebirds, scoring 31 goals in 117 appearances, but he has failed to find the back of the net at all since the final day of the 2023/24 campaign when he scored Derby's second in their 2-0 win over Carlisle United to secure promotion to the Championship.

He was offered a new one-year deal by Warne in July to give the 51-year-old more forward options as he prepared his side for the second tier, but he is now surplus to requirements.

Derby will only sell if they bring in cover

While there will be a desire from Leyton Orient and Rotherham to seal the deal, this will only happen if the Rams bring in at least one more striker, as they are light in that department.

Jerry Yates, who is on loan from Swansea City, is currently leading the line for Derby, and there will be a need to give him more support before the end of the window.

However, if Warne does manage to bring a striker in within the next couple of weeks, it could allow Collins the chance to play regular football in a league that he is more than capable of playing in.

The Rams need space in their squad, but they must ensure that they prioritise their own needs ahead of others to avoid being left behind in the battle for survival.