Forest Green’s Ebou Adams has revealed a quirky way of settling his nerves- by playing Candy Crush before each game.
The Gambian midfielder recently returned to Rob Edwards’ Forest Green and featured in their 1-1 draw against Port Vale on Tuesday, confirming today that he didn’t even have time to go home before the match.
Adams joked with reporters about the moment he touched down in the UK:
“I left Cameroon in a t-shirt and when I landed in the UK I asked myself what am I doing?
“As they say it’s not easy on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke, but we did it, got the point and I was buzzing.”
Speaking in this afternoons press conference, Adams spoke about how excited he was to be selected for his country’s first game of the tournament against Mauritania.
“I was nervous until we had to walk out for the national anthem and I do a weird thing before every game where I start playing Candy Crush to problem solve and to keep me calm.
“It actually worked as well because before the game I was literally shaking because I was so scared but as soon as I walked out and heard the national anthem I kept cool, the whistle went and I thought yes here we go.”
The Gambia would go on to make history by reaching the quarter-finals of the competition and were knocked out via a 2-0 loss to the hosts Cameroon.
Unfortunately, he was the victim of a minor collarbone injury that kept him out of his nations final two games however he has assured Forest Green fans that he has been pleased with the sides progression throughout his time away from the squad.
“I’ve not taken my eyes off Forest Green whilst I’ve been away!
“Constantly I was messaging the boys, the management staff and I’m so happy that they’ve kept the momentum going as well as the unbeaten run.”
The 26-year old also revealed to journalists that he had absorbed information like a “sponge” throughout his time in Cameroon and thoroughly enjoyed the challenging of playing against some of the worlds best players.
“You learn from different players when you’re over there because you have people playing in the Serie A, in Spain and it’s a great chance to pick their brains and see how they play.”
When asked about which of his opponents particularly impressed him the midfielder stated:
“Bissouma of Brighton is seriously frightening in the sense of how laid back yet good he is, in the way that he can explode with the ball or without the ball.
“It was a good challenge and I enjoyed it but I’ll stake my claim by saying he didn’t do much against me and I’ll always hold that as a memory.”
Forest Green host Newport County on Saturday and it is likely that Adams will once again feature at the New Lawn Stadium.
It’s clear that he is fully focused on continuing to be a key aspect of Forest Green’s success and fans will be looking on eagerly as to what he can produce in the final part of the season.
