FA Cup: Vintage 'Jags' gears up to be talk of the Town

His team-mates call him "Jags". Not because he boasts two Jags. Not even one. A Ford Fiesta must suffice for Steve Jagielka, who can only imagine what the training ground car park of Chelsea, today's FA Cup opposition, resembles. Something like an outdoor classic-car showroom, you suggest. For a moment the Shrewsbury Town right-midfielder visualises the scene, then it's a swift return to the reality of Gay Meadow, with all its antique charm. "I'd like a Beamer [a BMW] ideally, but that'll have to wait," he says.

Maybe at the end of a good Cup run? It is doubtful. Profits from this adventure by Shrewsbury Town tend to be primarily required to offset losses incurred through the ITV Digital deal collapse. Where players like Jagielka must benefit is to utilise this afternoon's fourth-round tie as a 90-minute, prime-time advertisement for their talents, even if it is demanding much to outpoint the likes of Graeme Le Saux, Emmanuel Petit and Frank Lampard.

"They're all great players in their own right," he says. "There are so many who can turn any game. Compared with us, they're paid thousands a week and cost millions to sign. It's the glamour side of football. People outside the game tend to assume that our lifestyle's a bit like theirs, but it's a different world."

He adds: "I particularly like their three front men, Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen and Zola, but having said that you could go through the whole team. They'll take some beating, but maybe we'll get them on an off-day, and we'll have an inspired afternoon, bring them down to our level, with the help of the atmosphere, the fans and our small ground."

If there is inspiration today it is provided by his younger brother Phil, four years his junior, who as right-back in Neil Warnock's talented Sheffield United could be a Premiership player next season. The brothers might face each other at a later stage in the Cup after Phil's goalscoring performance in yesterday's 4-3 win over Ipswich.

"There's never been much competition between us because of the age gap," says Steve, "although we'd kick a ball around as kids. We both want each other to do well out of the game. He's doing superbly in the First Division, and could be in the Premiership next season if they can sustain it and hang in there. He deserves it. And remember, he was only 20 in August."

Both were born in Manchester, but Phil has spent his career at United; Steve, having started at Manchester City, was at Stoke for three years until Kevin Ratcliffe's predecessor, Jake King, signed him.

His desire and enthusiasm have made him a crowd favourite. However, he has only returned this season from a cruciate ligament injury which caused him to miss eight months. "When I did it, I thought I was looking a half-decent player, and I want to get back to that standard again," says Jagielka, who lives with his girlfriend five minutes from the training ground. "I want to play at a higher level, especially as my brother is. But opportunities nowadays are just getting less and less. There's just not enough money around in football at the moment. The market's gone a bit stale."

This stage of the Cup can be a strange one to preview. From visiting Premiership training complexes, where familiar faces disappear swiftly behind the tinted windows of their Porsches, Ferraris and occasional BMWs, you are confronted by a team whom, with the exception of former Nottingham Forest men Nigel Jemson and Ian Woan and ex-Blackburn player Mark Atkins, you need to ask for help to identify the players.

Word had it that the Shrewsbury boys had considered switching identities in an attempt to have a bit of fun with "the London media" who, normally, would not have come within 50 miles of the Third Division club. They didn't, but when someone pointed out Jagielka, "the guy with the white tea-cosy hat", it was reassuring to discover that he was the authentic article. The name is Polish, the Jagielka boys' grandparents having arrived in Britain during the war. Their father was brought up speaking Polish and had to learn English.

While Farnborough had jetted off to La Manga as a prelude to yesterday's game at Highbury, Shrewsbury stuck rigorously to their normal schedule: steady, but not too onerous, work on a boggy training ground, and the adoption of that old strategy: treat it just like another game.

Is that possible? Jagielka believes it is. "It'll probably be only after the Cup run's finished that we'll look back and appreciate it," he said. "You can't do that at the moment, otherwise you'll fall into the trap of thinking about all the stars you're up against. You've just got to prepare yourself as though you're playing a Third Division game against Exeter or Carlisle."

That strategy certainly worked against Everton in the previous round. "Basically, we didn't show them any respect, so they couldn't really get into it," reflected Jagielka. "They didn't settle quickly, and we got the goal which gave us a lift, and just kept going. The late winner was perfectly timed. There was nothing they could do then. Game over. Thanks for coming."

He added: "This time, with the opposition and it being live on TV, there'll probably be more nervous tension, but that generally makes me play better anyway. I just want to get out there and get on with it. It's been a long week."

"Jags" and the boys will ensure that, for the élite west London side, it will be as problematic as The Longest Day.