“The South American nature as we all know is pretty clever in terms of buying fouls. A lot of the foreign players are from there so it's something that will take a bit of getting used to.

“I just came in and won a header and the lad went down like a ton of bricks. He'd wasn't used to a 6ft 4in Scotsman bearing down on him.”

So what would English fans make of the general standard of football in the second tier of American football? “It’s probably too early in my time here to give a good answer,” said Collins. “There are so many variables. If Tampa Bay Rowdies were in League One they’d probably struggle with the amount of games they would have to play. The poor weather and the intensity of it is different, as is the physical side of things.

“But what I would say in this league we've got good players. Georgios Samaras (Greek international and former Manchester City, Celtic and West Brom forward) has joined Rayo Oklahoma City. Croatian international Nico Kranjcar, who used to be with Tottenham, has just signed for New York Cosmos.

RESERVE JUDGMENT

"There are a lot of players from South America, so they're pretty good technically. But I have to reserve judgement until I see more and play more games. It is a bit slower tempo because of the heat and I think they're slightly more technical. A few more passes."

Collins is no stranger to Florida which has helped him to make a quick transition. “It's always very tough moving clubs, never mind just moving countries,” he said.

“I'm fortunate because I know the area well enough to have settled in relatively well. It's about getting used to a different culture and a different style of football.

“I’ve been coming on holiday for pretty much the last 20 years. There have not been too many summers when I've not been out here. It's somewhere we love to come and we know pretty well. My wife, Amanda, son Patrick and our three-year-old daughter Peyton have just joined me after their visas came through. I think for them it's a weight off their minds coming to a place that they know. That's made it a lot easier.”

The Rowdies play most away games much farther afield than English clubs. Three trips are to teams in Canada. So apart from Florida neighbours Miami FC and Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Collins has said goodbye to long coach trips and traffic jams which is part and parcel of a footballers life in England.

“There are two or three drives which we can do by bus but it'll be mostly flying and we've got Tampa airport only 20 minutes away from the training ground,” he said.

“It will be great to go and play in these different cities. When you have been to Scunthorpe five, six, seven times – I can't say it's monotonous because it's been great going there with the support behind us which Sheffield United get – but it's good to go and play in different stadiums and I'm looking forward to that.”

Collins commuted from Wetherby to training in Sheffield during his time at United. Now his regular trip is just a stone’s throw away. “I certainly won't miss getting struck again on the A1 or M1,” he said. “I know that drive like the back of my hand I've done it that often.”

The Scot still hopes that one day, however, in the not too distant future he may once again be pulling into the car park at United’s Shirecliffe training complex.

“I’ve got ambitions to go into management. To be manager of Sheffield United would be fantastic but it is such a big job I think you want to go and earn your spurs somewhere and show you are getting it on the basis of on not what you have done as a player but what you've done as a coach and a manager.”

Another former Blades centre-half, Chris Morgan, now assistant coach to Danny Wilson at Chesterfield, is more likely to be first in the queue and Collins can’t imagine a better fit.

“Morgs had the job on a couple of occasions as caretaker and I could see from the second occasion in particular that he had learnt a lot.

“Chris has a fantastic standing at the club. He's a deserved legend for what he has done and he epitomises all of what Sheffield United are about and which I think they need to get back to.

"He was one of the reasons why I came to the club. I wanted to play alongside him. When it comes to management Morgs will have to go and prove himself by being a boss somewhere else and getting a certain degree of success. Then he'll be able to come back and take the United job.