James Collins insists he is a different person to the lad who made headlines for the wrong reasons three years ago.
The striker - then at Crawley - and ex-Irish Under-21 Samir Carruthers were pictured apparently urinating into a glass on a balcony at the Cheltenham Festival.
Collins was also photographed pouring a liquid off the balcony.
Both players apologised for their actions but were banned from racecourses in Britain and were fined by their respective clubs.
Yesterday, new Ireland recruit Collins, 28, said: “I think a lot of players get a bad reputation in the media. When you’re young you do silly things.
“But I’ve worked really hard over the years to make sure my stuff on the pitch was really good, so people would forget about that side.
“I was young and naive, but now it’s a completely different James Collins to what you would have seen five or six years ago.”
These days, Collins would rather be known for his goal scoring ability having topped last season’s League One charts with 25 goals for Luton.
And he already has three to his name in the Championship, revealing that he was spurred on by people doubting his ability.
“You hear a lot of people asking, ‘Can he do it in League One? Can he do it in the Championship?’
“You just see people, journalists along the years, always asking the question. Not Irish. People back in England asking if you are good enough to score goals and x, y and z.
“But I don’t really listen to anything like that anyway. I always try to put it to the back of my mind.
“If you’re scoring goals regularly you’re proving them wrong. It’s always nice. Any striker will tell you it gives you confidence.”
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
