Kevin Kilbane was no stranger to a positional switch in his Republic of Ireland career - though he went the opposite way to Nathan Collins.
Kilbane was mostly deployed either on the left-wing or in central-midfield for the Boys in Green, from his debut against Iceland in September 1997, up until a 1-1 draw with Cyprus - in the less-embarrassing of the two results against them under Steve Staunton - a decade later. But an appearance at left-back against Chile in a friendly the summer before would be a window into what was to come.
With Staunton now sacked, caretaker boss Don Givens moved the then-Wigan winger into the back four - where Kilbane, now 48, would play out much of the rest of his three-and-a-half years left in the green jersey. But the move up the pitch can prove twice as hard.
After some clamour from various corners under the Stephen Kenny regime, Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson gave Brentford centre-back Collins a go in midfield in the dismal 5-0 defeat to England at Wembley in November. And when asked this week if he would consider picking the Leixlip native further up the pitch again, Hallgrimsson did not rule it out.
Kilbane said he was impressed with how Collins handled the "difficult" job he was given before Liam Scales' red card forced a reshuffle - and Ireland's subsequent second-half collapse. And though it may not be essential to have Collins there against a lesser threat, Kilbane thinks the game could be a good one to let him get more comfortable with playing in midfield when Ireland see more of the ball.
"I think it’s a difficult role for him, I think it's difficult when he’s in possession," Kilbane told Dublin Live. "When we were in possession he was in midfield, but when we lost the ball he was dropping back into a back 5.
"I think Nathan Collins is excellent on the ball, and the one player that jumps out to me who adapted from a defensive role to a midfield role in an Irish shirt was Paul McGrath. Growing up, I probably recognised Paul McGrath playing in an Irish shirt first and foremost as a midfielder.
"He’s one of our best ever, if [Collins] can reach anywhere near that he’ll be doing quite well. But I think it’s a difficult role he’s been asked to play, because it wasn’t really a defensive role or a midfield role I found.
"It’s the difficulty of taking the ball on the half turn rather than having the field in front of you if you’re a defensive player stepping in. Collins is excellent on the ball when he steps in, he can step in with the ball, pass, and actually move forward beyond the ball and get into advanced positions.
"But when you’re taking it in midfield, playing it one touch or two touch, it’s very different in confined space than when you’ve got that space in front of you. I thought he did quite well in the England game, but he didn’t really have a lot of time in possession.
"We were giving up a lot of the ball throughout that game. Most of his good work in that game was when he was dropping back in, seeing the threat of Harry Kane when he was stepping out - in the first 45 minutes before [England] took over, we know how it went.
"The positive from the 45 minutes was how he recognised the position of where Harry Kane was. He got close to him to stop him dictating.
"It might not be necessary for this type of game, we’re not necessarily looking at Bulgaria as a huge threat like England from an attacking point of view. But it might be good for getting himself familiarised with that role and taking the ball on the half turn in midfield, where he’s got to physically turn in the middle of the park and then look forward with his passing or change the direction."
Kilbane also said he would still back Evan Ferguson to lead the line on Thursday night over Troy Parrott or Adam Idah. He said: "If you’d have asked me before Christmas, even if you’d have asked me a month ago, I’d probably still have gone with Ferguson.
"We’re almost pinning our hopes on this guy. This is the guy we thought, when he hits 24 or 25, he could have 15 or 20 international goals at that stage.
"He’s not had an awful lot of game time since his move to West Ham. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.
"We’re getting snippets of what Troy Parrott is doing - every time there’s a European night, he’s producing on the big stage. I don’t expect any of them to play 90 minutes, whoever starts the game will probably get 60-65 minutes.
"Whoever doesn’t start could come on and make more of an impact unless whoever starts has got a couple of goals, which is unlikely. Idah’s done that at Celtic, he knows that role to come on and contribute, get a goal with 20 minutes to go.
"I think Ferguson’s all round game has got more than the other two, personally, not least with his ability to find positions coming off the defence and finding himself in space. He can be the target, he can play the physical side, I think he’s got a bit more pace than people give him credit for as well.
"I’d stick with him and see what he’s got, but with the knowledge that we’ve got two strikers there. If Ferguson for any reason isn’t quite right, I’d go with Parrott, simply because of the level he’s been playing at in Europe consistently, scoring goals and doing well.
"Idah’s more of a sub in my opinion, he’s that guy you can call upon with 20 minutes left." Kilbane was speaking on St Patrick's Day morning from his home in Canada, and said that Ireland's big day will always be a big deal in his household - and that it is a bigger deal in Canada than in it was in England.
"My daughter went to school this morning stacked in green," he said. "It’s a big thing for the schools here, like it would be back home, and probably more so than in England honestly.
"Our heritage is recognised more here than it would be in England I would feel. It’s nice in that aspect that the kids get to enjoy the day.
"You know what kids are like, anything different for the day is great for them. For us as adults, the last couple of years we would have tried to stay local.
"We’ve got a lovely little Irish pub which wouldn’t be too far from us down the road, they’d have live Irish music across the day in there. Today’s a bit different, we can’t really get out today, so we’ll have a quiet day at home."
Kilbane also had fond memories of Paddy's Days in Preston as a kid, following his sister's Irish dancing exploits across the north-west. He said: "St Patrick’s Day was always a huge day for us.
"My sister was into Irish dancing, she was a very good Irish dancer, with my cousins as well. We would always have been in some Irish centre somewhere in Manchester or Preston, my sister would have been dancing, we would have the Irish bands playing, the Irish music all day.
"That would have been the tradition for us, and for a lot of Irish people who would have grown up in Preston as well, the halls would have always been packed out."
Kevin Kilbane was speaking on behalf of NetBet Online Casino.
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