PHIL JEVONS has waited a long time to have a second crack at Chelsea.

So the 28-year-old striker will be pulling out all the stops to shine at home to Swindon today and at Carlisle on Tuesday in order to retain his place in Andy Ritchie’s starting side for the big FA Cup fifth-round showdown in the capital a week today.

Jevons, who came on as a substitute for his first club Everton at Stamford Bridge in the penultimate match of the 2000-01 Premier League campaign, reckons the prospect of taking on the quadruple challengers has helped Town chalk up successive wins over Bournemouth and Yeovil since beating another League I club, Oldham, to book their place in the last 16.

“Chelsea are a massive club who are chasing honours on four fronts (Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup) and going down there is a great prospect, so all the lads want to be involved,” said Jevons.

“That means everyone has had an extra incentive to perform in the recent league games.

“We’ll be massive underdogs, of course, but that will help because nobody expects anything of us.

“Taking on a high-profile side like Chelsea is a chance to enjoy a great footballing experience, but we’ll be preparing properly and going there with the intention of winning.

“They might have a squad full of superstars, but they are only human and we all play the same game, so you never know.

“We won’t be star-struck, because we have a lot of experience in the side and quite a few of the lads played down there in the third round a couple of seasons ago.”

Jevons was a Bristol City player when Town came close to earning a replay back in January 2006, with Chelsea needing an 82nd-minute Eidur Gudjohnsen goal to clinch a 2-1 win.

That was also the scoreline when the Scouser made his ninth and final appearance for Everton down in West London.

“We were 2-1 down to a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink double when I came on as a substitute with about 20 minutes to go,” he recalled.

“I had three reasonable chances, but I was foiled by John Terry and then twice by the keeper Carlo Cudicini.”

Within two months, Jevons had been transferred to Grimsby, where he got the first of a current tally of 93 goals, 10 of which have been in the FA Cup.

After spells at Hull (on loan), Yeovil and Bristol City, Jevons joined Town, initially on loan, in November, with a permanent deal for an initial £100,000 being fixed early last month.

Contracted through to 2010, he and girlfriend Adele are now settled in Huddersfield, and Jevons is keen to add to his five goals for the club.

He was eager to take the penalty which gave Town their 24th-minute breakthrough at former side Yeovil last Saturday, but lost out to Luke Beckett in the race to the 12-yard spot after home captain Terry Skiverton was penalised for handball.

“I’d certainly have taken it,” revealed Jevons, who notched from the spot in the 2-1 New Year’s Day defeat at Nottingham Forest, Town’s only other penalty this season.

“I’ve taken them throughout my career, but then so has Luke, and he got hold of the ball before me!

“To be fair he put it away really well, and the most important thing was that it finished in the net and we were ahead.”

Michael Collins’ 51st-minute effort sealed a 2-0 win and Jevons added: “It was a very good win, because Yeovil is a tough place to go.

“They like to play at a high tempo and pass the ball around, and if you’re not on your game, you can easily get undone.

“I thought we were very solid as a team, and we stopped them playing for long phases.

“When we had the ball ourselves, we used it well and Luke was excellent with his hold-up play and distribution.

“The start of the second half was a particularly important part of the game, and getting the second goal when we did really deflated them.

“By the final stages their body language was that of a beaten side and we could have had four or five by the end.”