Alan Pardew sees a little bit of himself in Jamie Vardy but is out to stop Leicester hotshot from continuing blistering run

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Alan Pardew believes Jamie Vardy’s astonishing rise from non-league to the England team is a reminder that all footballers can see their dreams come true.

Pardew’s Crystal Palace have the unenviable task of keeping in-form Vardy quiet when they visit Leicester City in a contest between fifth and sixth in the Barclays Premier League.

The Leicester frontman has scored nine times in nine league games this season, his irresistible form earning a first England cap in the Euro 2016 qualifier with San Marino last month.

Leicester City's Jamie Vardy is the Barclays Premier League's in-form striker so far this season

Vardy (pictured celebrating at Southampton) has nine goals this year - three more than anyone else

But his journey to the top of the scoring charts has been far from straightforward. Vardy started out in non-league football with Yorkshire clubs Stocksbridge Park Steels and FC Halifax Town, combining goalscoring with long hours working on the factory floor.

In 2011, Vardy joined then-Conference side Fleetwood Town, his 34 goals helping them into the Football League and catching the eye of Leicester.

Despite a few self-doubts and barren spells, the 28-year-old has ultimately prospered on English football’s biggest stage and the future looks bright.

His rise echoes that of Pardew, who played for non-league clubs Whyteleafe, Epsom & Ewell, Corinthian Casual, Dulwich Hamlet and Yeovil Town, before earning a move to second division Palace in 1987.

And Pardew believes the unique challenges of non-league football are beneficial to those players who make the leap to bigger things.

He said: ‘I think it’s important someone like myself highlights Vardy because it is important for the game. When you’re playing non-league you’ve still got a chance of that dream.

‘Your body can come to you later, your technical ability can just finally all come together when you’re 23 or 24 and you come into the League.

‘There are so many players in non-league over the years that have come in and it’s important that, throughout football and grassroots football, there is always an avenue to give players that dream of what Vardy is doing right now.’

Alan Pardew's Palace have the unenviable task of keeping in-form Vardy quiet when they visit Leicester

Pardew added: ‘The first battle you need to win is players accepting you from non-league. When you’re coming in — in your mid-20s — to professional footballers, they kind of look at you and say “you’ve got to prove yourself to us first”.

‘The challenge is to put yourself up against the best players in your position. Vardy is doing it against centre-halves and in my day I was doing it against Bryan Robson and Gazza.

‘It lifted me to try and play like those guys. Three or four years before I was a million miles away from that. So that’s why Vardy has that drive in him.

‘Sometimes it’s a good route for a footballer. You see so many young footballers burst on the scene and when they reach 25, for some reason the motivational levels go off.

‘There can be certain pampering being done in the academies that soften players. There is no chance of that in non-league.’