Wycombe forward Ali Al-Hamadi has revealed the biggest piece of advice club legend Adebayo Akinfenwa gave him before the latter retired at the back end of last season.
The now 40-year-old hung up his boots at the conclusion of the 2021/22 campaign, in which he scored 61 goals in 250 appearances across six years at Adams Park.
One of his last contributions as a Chairboy was to advise the development players on how they can improve their game, with Al-Hamadi being one of the young talents to take tips of the former forward.
Wembley ready!@daRealAkinfenwa has made what could be his final visit to Adams Park as a #Chairboys player to thank the staff for all their love and support throughout his six years.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) May 19, 2022
We’re gonna miss you, B! pic.twitter.com/36CXd6x51w
Speaking to the press ahead of this weekend’s home match against Plymouth Argyle, the Iraqi international said: “I have progress loads but sometimes it’s hard to measure that, but I think you see it how you feel.
“Game by game and as time goes on, I feel like I am growing as a person and as a better player.
“The physicality of the game is something that I have learnt a lot about.
“You just don’t learn these things.
“When I was at Swansea, even that, which was Premier League academy football, those were things that you just didn’t learn such as, how to use your body, how to by fouls or win duels against people.
“Last season, Adebayo Akinfenwa sat me down and told me that I need to make my mark, regardless of how old you are.
You guys are really trying to make me cry 💙💙💙 wow https://t.co/81AWxiABIg
— daRealAAkinfenwa (@daRealAkinfenwa) May 10, 2022
“So, there are lots of things that you don’t learn from academy football that you learn in the Football League.
“It’s also brought your personality to the game and for me, it’s a case of making people aware of what that is.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re coming on for 10-15 minutes, that is no excuse as you need to try and do something.
“It can be difficult, but you need to take accountability and just going forward.”
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