Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth cannot wait to see a fully fit Adebayo Akinfenwa in the Championship.
Aptly nicknamed ‘The Beast’, Akinfenwa has been at the club for four years, scoring 54 goals in 177 appearances for the Chairboys.
Joining from AFC Wimbledon, he has been instrumental in promotions from League Two and League One.
The 38 year-old had knee surgery in July, but has managed to feature in both of the previous two Championship matches.
Ainsworth has said that the team missed his presence on the pitch, and in the dressing room.
“Akinfenwa not being fully fit has been tough because if you look at the goals Bayo was involved in quite a few, probably the majority over the last four years have involved Bayo.
“Uche [Ikpeazu] has come in to be that Bayo-type upfront and we really need the players to start believing they’re going to score.
He’s [Bayo] done brilliant. He’s shown already what he’s going to do, he’s going to cause mayhem in any league, even in the Premier League.
“If you play the right way to him he can dictate games and having him back will be huge for us.
“He knows he is not fully fit yet and we missed him.
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“If one of your top players is out of the team, in any team, you miss them and we’ve missed Bayo.
“It’s no coincidence that the last two games we’ve been super competitive with Bayo involved in both dressing rooms so really pleased to have him back and looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Championship.”
The 2-1 defeat to Millwall on Saturday was Akinfenwa’s first appearance in the English second tier, and could potentially start his first Championship match on Saturday at Carrow Road against Norwich City.
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