NEWPORT County AFC captain Andy Sandell admits the Exiles can only maintain their unbeaten League Two run tomorrow if they manage to tame the beast.

The Exiles are set to come up against one of English’s football’s most potent partnerships so far this term on Saturday at Rodney Parade when Matt Tubbs and ‘The Beast’ Adebayo Akinfenwa take to the field.

At 16 stone, Akinfenwa, 32, was celebrating this week after EA Sports named him as the strongest player in world football for the second year running, according to their player ratings for the popular ‘FIFA’ console game series.

Akinfenwa can bench press 180kg - nearly two Ade Akinfenwa’s - and Sandell admits it is going to be tough for County to contain a pair of strikers that have already scored 11 goals between them in just 10 games.

“They are in great form, it’s harder for us with defenders out injured and we know how well they’ve been playing and the goals they’ve been scoring,” Sandell said.

“But then don’t forget we’ve kept a few clean sheets recently with Superman (Joe Day) playing in goal for us and we won’t look to do anything different tomorrow.

“We will try and play good football and defend well and we know it’s tough, you can’t get too close to them, especially Akinfenwa, because, well, it’s like trying to move a car.

“We have to worry about ourselves, we want teams to dread coming here and know we’ll work hard and be in their faces and as long as we have that about us, we can concentrate on ourselves.”

County are likely to face the impressive strikeforce with the experienced Ismail Yakubu and Darren Jones returning to partner 16-year old teen ace Regan Poole.

And Sandell is confident the youngster can cope against a striker who can match Poole’s years in stones, admitting he’s thrilled by the contribution of County’s kids.

“I think we’ll keep him (Akinfenwa) off Regan, it would literally be man versus boy, but Regan will be fine, he’s not fully grown yet and some strikers will roll him, but it is part and parcel of learning,” he said.

“We will look after him. I feel us older players have a responsibility to help them through and offer advice; you treat them like you would your own kids really.

“But he picks things up quickly, the youth team players do listen at our club and they do want to learn things.

“They are getting experience and as much as I hate to say it, fair play to Flynny (academy coach Mike Flynn).

“Last year the standard wasn’t as good, last year sometimes in training a lad might come in and kill the session a bit by not being good enough, but this year they’ve done really, really well.”