Adebayo Akinfenwa

“Don't try to kid yourself that your game is about pace if it isn't. If you're a big guy like me you need to look at how similarly built players use that physical presence to influence a game. Accept that your build may have some limitations - but plenty of plus points too.”

“It's about sticking to your strengths - I'm not trying to run away from nobody or do any double stopovers or anything like that, have you seen how big these legs are? Though i'm sure people would love to see it.”

“I'm not a gambler and I never have been.”

“I enjoy watching England but I won't rearrange my schedule just to make sure I'm in to see the game.”

“As a footballer I know what I'm good at and I've now embraced it.”

“A footballer who says they don't want to start games is in the wrong job.”

“My Christian faith has guided me.”

“It used to get my back up because people would only say 'he does well for his size' and it's like, forget the size, I do well because I do well.”

“Everyone likes to be praised for their work and footballers are no different but the key thing is staying level-headed.”

“There was a long period when I was younger where people always talked about my size and I was going 'but look, I can play, though, I can play' but you look at it, to have a career, 12-13 years, you've got to be more than just a brute.”

“People said I'm too big to play football.”

“Everyone has got a perception of what a footballer is and, because I am a certain size, that I can only play one way - as a battering ram.”

“Kids are a product of their environment.”

“I was raised on an estate in an inner city school where people had a go about my size, people saying I am too big to play football - which still happens today - and I used that to inspire me.”

“When you hear Beast Mode, you automatically go to my size, but I always say the strongest thing I own is not my chest, my legs, not my arms. It's my mind. It's that mindset that says: Look, you're not always going to succeed but don't take it as a loss, take it as a lesson. That's the mindset of Beast Mode.”

“Obviously you know match-fixing is out there but you don't really associate it with the English game.”

“As I've said before, I'm a big fan of social media because it allows players and fans to interactive but it can have its pitfalls.”

“I like being the biggest on the pitch, I don't want to look at the other guys and think his arms are bigger than mine.”

“To be recognised as the best in the whole world at something is an achievement.”

“I'm going to say it out loud: I'm available for England selection if they serve chicken for pre-match.”