JON ‘The Beast’ Parkin isn’t fazed by the FA Cup hype surrounding his match-up against heavyweight equivalent Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Parkin will come face-to-face with his beefy rival as the Forest Green captain takes his side to League Two outfit AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup first round on Saturday.

“To be honest ‘The Beast’ tag and the comparison with Adebayo doesn’t bother me one bit -people can make of it what they want,” said Parkin.

Rovers’ ‘Beast’ returned from injury to notch his sixth goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Chester FC on Saturday, which sent Ady Pennock’s side back to the top of the National League.

Parkin said: “I was pleased how I played after three weeks out with a hamstring injury.

“The plan was to play 70 minutes, but I carried on and to get 90 minutes under my belt was hard work, but good news.”

The former Stoke City striker insists the trip to the Dons will provide a good barometer to where Rovers are and want to be.

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He added: “The most important thing is that we go to Wimbledon and see how we fare against a team in the league we want to be in next season. It will be a tough test but we will relish the challenge.”

Pennock will be boosted by the return of striker Kurtis Guthrie following a one-game suspension. 

Club captain David Pipe and Aaron O’Connor will come into contention.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Steve Arnold could be given the nod over Jonny Maxted after returning to training last week. 

Loan keeper Dale Eve, who played in the previous round win at Margate has  been called back to Stoke City.

Wotton-Under-Edge-born former Rovers loan star Sean Rigg is currently a member of Neil Ardley’s squad, while New Lawn defender Darren Jones will be returning to his former club

The winners of Saturday’s tie will bag £18,000 in prize money.