Defender tells how to deal with Akinfenwa if he's on
Vale defender Daniel Jones says his side will be keeping a keen eye on Adebayo Akinfenwa if he is in the Gillingham side to face Vale on Saturday afternoon.
The secret to making the former Northampton Town front man less effective is more about tracking the runners says Jones, who is expected to be back in the Vale squad after being announced fully fit.
Jones said: “I played with him at Northampton and his game won’t have changed much.
“He likes the ball into his feet. He will tell you himself he isn’t going to run the channels.
“He just wants the ball into his feet and chest so he can pin and get runners off him. We have to make sure that we track runners when balls go into him.
“You can’t get into a physical scrap with him, you will end up fouling him or he is just going to throw you, so we have to be clever with him.
“You have to try not to over-commit trying to win the ball off him. Sometimes we could just be as well letting him have the ball and see what he is going to do with it, because he is not going to turn and get at you, he is going to look for runners. So it is important for us that we follow runners.
“A lot of people think he is this target man, but his first touch is actually very good for a big man.
“He sees things as well, but we have more than enough to deal with it.”