An international striker who started off playing park football barely a mile down the road from Griffin Park could be the man to hurt Brentford tomorrow.
Albert Adomah may have featured in this year's World Cup for Ghana, but his footballing career began literally a whole world away, playing in the ninth team for amateur side Old Meadonians at Chiswick's Riverside Lands.
Adomah quickly rose through the Meads ranks to first team while taking a painting and decorating course at the same college in Willesden where Stuart Pearce trained to be an electrician, and after a semi-pro spell with Harrow Borough, he was able to put away the pots and brushes when Barnet gave him his break in the Football League in 2008.
Fast forward six years and Adomah is in his second season with Middlesbrough, via two successful seasons with Barnet and three with Bristol City, and could definitely be a threat to Brentford, according to Anthony Vickers of the Evening Gazette .
He said: “Albert tends to play on the right and is fast with tricky feet. He has tended to be better at crossing the ball than shooting, but is a real threat.”
While a young Adomah was plying his trade in the parks of west London, Middlesbrough's answer to Brentford's Three Amigos was working his way up through the Murcia ranks in Spain.
Enrique Garcia Martinez, or Kike as he is called on Teesside, was a summer signing from the Segunda Division side and has already smashed three goals in seven Championship games.
Vickers said: “Kike has been red hot so far. He scored 23 goals in the Spanish second tier last year and is very highly rated, but we landed him as he knows (Boro boss) Aitor Karanka from his time with the Spanish U20s.
“He's got a great touch, plays good little passes and drops deep to link up well with the midfield. On his day he is brilliant and he scored a great goal at Cardiff on Tuesday. He will often have three players on him.”
The final one of Boro's three to watch, according to Vickers, is another foreign signing from abroad, Jelle Vossen, a Belgian international striker who joined on loan from Genk, for whom he has bagged more than 100 goals.
Vickers added: “We spent 18 months trying to get Jelle. He didn't make the World Cup but has been involved with the Belgian national side for three years. He made his debut last Saturday and made a big difference when he came on. It will take him a while to get to grips with the English game, but he has a good footballing brain.”
Keep up to date with all the build-up. matchday and post-game reaction to Middlesbrough v Brentford right here on GetWestLondon.
