AKINDE HAS GOT PLENTY LEFT TO PROVE

Striker’s 500 not out and as ambitious as ever

- Paul Eddison

GILLINGHAM striker John Akinde had no idea he was approaching 500 senior games – but reckons he’s still got plenty left in the tank.

A message alerted him to the fact he was bearing down on the milestone, a mark he achieved in last weekend’s draw at Portsmouth. In that time, the 31-year old has racked up more than 150 goals.

He said: “I got an Instagram message saying ‘Do you want me to help you do your graphics because you’re coming up to 500 games?’. The guy asked if I wanted to get it done for the next couple of weeks.

“I started doing the numbers in terms of how long I’d been playing and I’m happy with it. I’ve got the 500 games and apparently 162 goals (before the weekend), so I just want to try to increase on both.”

Akinde arrived at Gillingham last January and, after the Covid-shortened season, has started to find his feet in this campaign.