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Jake Embery says service will be key as he bids to shine at Maidstone this season.
Embery can’t wait to get going after a frustrating 2019/20 campaign that started and finished on the treatment table.
He broke his collarbone in a friendly at Folkestone and was out with an ankle injury by the time the season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s all behind him now and he’s determined to show the goalscoring ability that’s been with him ever since he started playing football as a kid at Bearsted.
Embery, who turned 21 on Tuesday, said: “I’m looking forward to this year.
“It’s going to be different but I’ve got a lot more optimism and I hope to get the game time I’m looking for.
“As long as I get the service, I feel I’ll be fine.
“That’s a key part of my game. I’m not one of those players that’s going to beat a couple of players and make something happen.
“I’m more like a Jamie Vardy-type, the final piece in the jigsaw.
“If you feed the right ball, play it into the right areas, I’ll be in the position to finish everything off.
“That’s the way I play and hopefully it’s going to be a good year.”
Embery had plenty of time to think about things while sidelined last season.
It’s benefited him as a player and a person.
“Last season’s given me a different view of football,” he said.
“I hardly played any games, which was mainly down to injuries, and I look at football now and I appreciate it a lot more.
"I’d never been injured before last season, I’d never experienced that, and then I had it all in one season.
“I’ve seen more sides of the game, I’ve grown up a bit more and I can take that forward into the coming year.”
Once again there’s competition up front with Embery competing with Ibby Akanbi, Ibrahim Olutade and Scott Rendell for a shirt.
He doesn’t yet know how new boss Hakan Hayrettin - promoted to the top job after John Still’s retirement - wants to play.
But they’ve spoken before a return to training and Embery will be ready, whether Hayrettin goes with one or two up top.
The striker said: “Everything I’ve heard has been positive and it should be an exciting season.
“We’ve not spoken much about how we’re going to play so I’m not sure how we’ll set up.
“For me, I prefer playing in a two but I like playing in a one as well.
“I can’t really say if Hak will be different without John because I’ve not seen enough of him individually.
“It’s always been John and Hak as a pair but I expect he’ll have his own ideas. Either way, hopefully everything goes well.
“It’s going to be an interesting season.
“We’ve seen some big signings at some clubs. There’s going to be strong teams.
“You’d expect us to be up there, Ebbsfleet are signing a lot of players, there’s Billericay, Havant will still be strong and Dorking, I’d imagine they’ll keep going at it. We’ll see how it pans out.”
