Quotes from Adebayo Akinfenwa

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

When you've only got two days between games the recovery process is key.

I think I would have held my own in the NFL.

My size works against me as well, as some players I would just touch and they would fall over to get a free kick.

I'm a footballer first and foremost and I want to be remembered for what I do on the pitch.

I know that I don't look like a footballer but I've always enjoyed working out and I've always been bigger than most people out there. I come from big stock. If you see my brothers and me together, we look like a wrestling tag team trio.

My stats speak for themselves; I've got a good touch for a big man, I know I can find the back of the net.

Sometimes it is tough and frustrating to sit on the bench.

My old boss Aidy Boothroyd is a great man and I've got no malice or anything toward him.

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.

Training to be a tough tackler isn't easy - you don't want to injure yourself or team-mates so it's crucial that you have self-belief in your abilities and strength.

The time you are happy to sit on the bench, is the time you should retire in my opinion.

As a player on the bench, you become like a fan really. You're sitting there shouting 'why did he do that?' or 'no don't pass it there' and I can see why fans get so frustrated. But then I remember what it is like being out there on the pitch and how players can't see everything that fans can see.

I was always a big guy. You see my family - my brothers are the same size.

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 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.

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.

People concentrate on 'oh you can't do that,' or 'you're a bit too big for that' or whatever, rather than just concentrating on what you're good at. It's about being comfortable with the skin you're in, being comfortable within your own mind.

I went to bikram yoga once, it was fun, but boy was it tough.

Gym sessions will always consist of 40 minutes to one-hour cardio. I try to stay off the treadmill because of the pounding, so it's the rower or the cross-trainer.

In my younger days, sometimes family and personal life came second to my ambition.

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.

I do think there is a responsibility for myself as being a senior professional footballer to be able to pass on my experiences to the younger generation.

With hard work comes rewards and I want to make youngsters who could have gone left but went right find the right path.