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It has been a strange, strange few days for Eidur Gudjohnsen. And it might just get a whole lot weirder if his Chelsea team are dumped out of the FA Cup by Shrewsbury Town today.

Playing – and scoring – in the Premiership's first beach football match against Charlton Athletic at Stamford Bridge was followed by a fine goal in an unfortunate defeat at Old Trafford last Saturday, which appeared to kill any lingering title hopes just as his injury- affected season was starting.

Sandwiched in between was the brave admission that, in just a handful of months while out injured, he had squandered a fortune at the roulette tables – a statement that sparked a national debate on the vice, virtue and vast wealth of Britain's young footballers.

But, in his first interview since the furore, the talented young Icelander – regarded, at just 24, as the best player the country has produced (OK, there are not many rivals) – is relieved to be talking football and the FA Cup, in particular, of which he has "fantastic" recent memories.

Last season Chelsea were beaten 2-0 in the final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff by Arsenal. It was a special day, Gudjohnsen says, even if it ended in defeat. "The day and the experience of playing in the final, the build-up and everything around it. They are things I will cherish. I would like to experience all that again – plus getting my hands on the trophy. That would make that day a little bit more special."

Last season's run – which followed victory in 2000 (the striker signed for Chelsea a month later in a £5m deal from Bolton Wanderers, then in the First Division) – came mainly against Premiership opponents, with the Blues dumping their other London rivals West Ham, Tottenham and Fulham out of the Cup.

Shrewsbury are a different proposition, as Gudjohnsen readily concedes. "It [today's game] is something that I am looking forward to," he says, "although, to be honest, I have never been in a team who have played a team so many divisions lower than them. And we know that most of the country will be supporting Shrewsbury because everyone likes the upsets in the FA Cup. I will just have to do my best that we are not one of them.

"It seems that for us it is a no-win situation. If we win it is to be expected because we are Premier League and they are Third Division. And if we don't we will have the whole world on our backs." That, as they say, is the beauty of the Cup – and, yes, he did see the Everton game in the previous round. "I saw the highlights and [Nigel] Jemson got both goals. His free-kick was lovely, very well taken."

They were practising such kicks down at Chelsea's training ground near Heathrow on Friday – Gudjohnsen, Boudewijn Zenden and Gianfranco Zola – under the ever-watchful eye of their manager, Claudio Ranieri. Although the surface was truer than it will be at Gay Meadow today it was also somewhat better than recent experiences at the Bridge. The pitch, in this tie, will not be the leveller it usually can be.

Watching Ranieri – someone Gudjohnsen describes as a "24-hour football man" – it is easy to see how he has galvanised this Chelsea squad into the resilient force they have been this season.

There is method to go alongside his linguistic madness – "yes, he has a lot of metaphors," Gudjohnsen jokes – and the atmosphere is light as the manager quickly chides John Terry for attempting an overhead kick in a game of keepy-up with Mario Melchiot. Not the best way to protect a tender back, especially as he is expected to captain Chelsea in the absence of the suspended Marcel Desailly.

Gudjohnsen speaks warmly of his manager. "I think sometimes it frustrates him not being able to switch from Italian to English as he would like. Sometimes he is trying to explain things and they do not really come out the right way. But his English has improved drastically," says a man who is fluent in several languages having followed his father Arnur, a former player and now a coach, around Belgium, Holland, France and Sweden.

It was Ranieri who brought Gudjohnsen into the first team – "he arrived and just said that everyone starts at square one and has to prove themselves to get a place in the team". The striker was signed by Gianluca Vialli who, incidentally, had swapped shirts with the Icelander's father after the 1990 Uefa Cup final in which Sampdoria beat Anderlecht, but the Italian was sacked five matches into the new season.

There has been continuity since. "We seem to understand the concepts he [Ranieri] has brought in better, and maybe the fact that we did not make too many changes in the team from last year also helped as everyone knows their jobs when they go out on the pitch," Gudjohnsen says.

One change from last season, however, was the breaking up of his prolific partnership with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – which yielded the younger man 23 goals and many more rave reviews.

The move was mainly due to a knee injury that ruled Gudjohnsen out of any pre-season training – and the prolific form of the 37-year-old Zola. "It was then hard for me to get back into the team," he says. "Gianfranco Zola was playing really well, he had a great start to the season and then it was up to me and Jimmy to battle for a place alongside him.

"It is very hard sometimes when you are not regularly in the team or getting a run of five, six games to really get into some kind of form and your general match fitness. But over the last few weeks I have felt better, sharper and stronger." So far this season has yielded just seven goals, but Gudjohnsen feels he is starting to hit his stride. Unsurprisingly he maintains the championship race is not over, although he admits Chelsea, 11 points adrift, are now reliant on "a dip in form" by their rivals. Not making the Champions' League, however, would be a crushing blow. "Especially after the season we have had and how we can play."

Being sidelined last year also gave him the opportunity to observe his team-mates. "I love watching us play well," he says. "I sat on the bench and it is a different kind of excitement." It is an enthusiasm that Gudjohnsen has displayed throughout his career. From making his senior debut, aged 15, with Valur Reykjavik, to signing for Ajax 12 months later and making his international debut the year after that – when he came on as a substitute against Estonia. The player he replaced was his father.

In Amsterdam, where he played just 13 games, he was teamed up with one Ronaldo before a broken leg almost destroyed his career at just 17 and, cruelly, also deprived him of the chance of playing alongside his father. So what was the Brazilian like? "Fantastic," Gudjohnsen says."I will never play with anyone else like that. Amazing. Just the pace and power that he possesses. Just amazing." Suffice to say that today will be a whole new amazing football experience in the burgeoning career of Eidur Gudjohnsen and one that he is also unlikely to forget.