Physicality or brains over brawn? Wilson believes Spireites can tame the '˜beast' Akinfenwa

Danny Wilson acknowledges that Adebayo Akinfenwa will pose a physical threat for Chesterfield if he plays on Saturday, but the Spireites boss is confident his men can handle it.
CFC V Gillingham -CFC V Gillingham -
CFC V Gillingham -

It might not necessarily a case of matching strength with strength and detailing Town’s own powerhouse Ian Evatt with the job of keeping striker Akinfenwa quiet.

Wilson is well aware of what the cult figure brings to the Wycombe Wanderers team.

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Previewing the weekend’s FA Cup second round clash he said: “They’ve got the beast up front, big Akinfenwa.

“Regardless of what people may presume about him, he’s very effective at what he does. He’s very difficult to play against at times, very physical.”

When asked how he planned to nullify the front man’s threat, Wilson was coy, but insisted his men would be able to cope.

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“I don’t know, it depends where they play him, I don’t know if he plays or not,” he said.

“They’ve got some good strikers, I don’t know what their team is going to be.

“We’ll prepare ourselves as if he’s going to be in the team and we’ll prepare ourselves as if he’s out of the team.

“I don’t think it makes much difference really, we’ve got enough physicality to deal with him.

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“But sometimes it’s brains and brawn, it’s not necessarily the braun that wins the game.

“You’ve got to box clever sometimes.”

Akinfenwa isn’t the only player for the Spireites to keep a close eye on however, Wilson namechecking another dangerman for the League Two side.

“You’ve got Paul Hayes up the top as well who’s very experienced,” he said.

“They’ve got quite a few players more than capable of winning their games and that’s why they are where they are.

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“They’ve won their last four and catapulted themselves away from an area like we’re hoping to, away from the bottom and pushing for the top six.

“We can’t underestimate them, we won’t underestimate them and I like to think they won’t underestimate us either.”