Collymore poised for comeback bid

Collymore wants to return after more than five years out of football

Stan Collymore claims he is ready to make a bid to return to the Premiership after five years out of football.

The 35-year-old striker has not played since walking out on Spanish side Real Oviedo in March 2001.

But he told the Daily Mirror: "I've had physical tests and I'm confident I will come back faster, stronger and fitter than I ever was.

"A month from today I guarantee I will be able to stand side by side with any striker in the country."

It might sound big-headed but I still believe that I am the best Stan Collymore

Collymore, who played for Crystal Palace, Southend, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Fulham, Leicester, Bradford and Real Oviedo, has flown to Tenerife to start a three-week fitness regime.

He insists he has shaken off the personal problems that have affected his career and private life and said: "This time I'm not going to self-destruct.

"You are not going to see headlines about me being kicked out of a bar somewhere in the early hours rolling drunk.

"There is no reason why I can't be back to my best. Don't forget that as a footballer I haven't got a lot of miles on the clock. When I retired it wasn't because I was crumbling physically like Ian Wright or Gazza."

And he insisted: "I went to the World Cup as a punter. I didn't see any players that made me think 'I can't do that'. It might sound big-headed but I still believe that I am the best."