The forward talks about a nomadic career that has taken in the Turkish and Scottish top divisions and his hopes for a new career highlight in the FA Cup

Jake Jervis was an intrepid footballing nomad until he settled at Home Park. As he prepares to take on Liverpool with Plymouth Argyle, his 11th club, in an FA Cup replay on Wednesday, the 25-year-old forward hopes to add a new highlight to a colourful career, ideally a win and goal to top the most satisfying – and most puzzling – he has scored to date.

That was in a 2-2 draw away against Fenerbahce, on his debut for Elazigspor, who in 2013 were in Turkey’s top flight. “It was a full house [in the 50,000-capacity Sukru Saracoglu Stadium] and the atmosphere was crazy, absolutely deafening,” Jervis says. “But when I scored it went totally quiet. Our fans were just in a tiny little section in the top corner and I couldn’t hear them. I thought it must have been offside. It felt like a crazy experience and it’s been the highlight of my career so far.”

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At that point a fascinating new vista seemed wide open for a player who, despite being only 20, had already played for eight English clubs on loan from his first professional employers, Birmingham City. Young English players are often accused of being too narrow-minded to develop fully but Jervis has always been open to travel in search of opportunities to improve.

“I wasn’t fully satisfied playing reserve-team football and always wanted to play first-team football and get as much experience as I could. One thing I learned when I was young is always do your best because you never know who’s watching, and, weirdly enough, the interest from Turkey came about when a representative of the club was in England looking at someone on the opposition [when Jervis was on loan at Portsmouth in 2013]. I played well and a few days later I got a call and it went from there.

“Football is very different in Turkey. When I went there I was into pressing and trying to get the ball back like you do in England but everyone was looking at me going: ‘Why are you running about? Calm down a bit.’ The pace of the game is a lot slower and it’s more technical.”

Unfortunately for Jervis his debut was as good as things got on the pitch for him, as after only four competitive matches he broke his foot in a friendly. Being injured made adapting to life in a small city in Eastern Anatolia even more difficult for a young man who had just arrived and had to “ring a fella to translate things to get anything done”. Not being paid, however, made staying there impossible. Jervis returned to England and got Fifa to intervene when Elazigspor defaulted on his wages but it took six months to get the clearance he needed to resume his career in England. Eventually Portsmouth were allowed to take him on until the end of the 2013-14 season, after which he moved to another country. Ross County took him to Scotland.

“That was another type of football, much faster than Turkey and even quite different to England,” he says. It was also where he first hooked up with Derek Adams, the manager who, after moving south, also signed Jervis for Plymouth, giving him a one-year contract that was extended last summer after the player finished his first season as Plymouth’s top scorer.

“He [Adams] is the one manager who’s really had the faith in me to let me go out and play,” says Jervis. “I did well for him last year and he’s let me go out and do the same again this year. This has been the most enjoyable period of my career so far, I can definitely say I feel at home here. And the match against Liverpool is massive, not only in terms of the revenue it brings to the club but also the buzz around the city.” One thing is for sure: if Jervis tops his goal against Fenerbahce by scoring against Liverpool, the stadium will not fall silent.

Home Park has had 1,800 temporary seats fitted for this match, bringing the capacity to 17,500, ensuring the highest attendance since the League Two side were in the Championship eight years ago. Plymouth threw up the barricades at Anfield and fought for a 0-0 draw. Jervis anticipates a different sort of contest in the replay. “We’ve done the tough part in getting Liverpool to come down here so now it’s about enjoying it and seeing what we can do. Whatever team they put out will be strong but this time they’ll probably put out more of the first team because they realise we’re not that easy to beat so it’ll be a good test for us.”

If Plymouth pulled off the greatest upset in their history, they would progress to a fourth-round tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers. “That’d be going back to where I was born and near where I grew up,” Jervis says. “I played for Wolves as a schoolboy, so to go back there as a professional would be a nice way to complete a circle.”