The engineer missing his shift at Wembley... to play there instead

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"Don't put me in the same category as those two!" says Jay Lovell, taken aback as his name is mentioned in the same breath as Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney.

The defender, 33, is set to join the former Liverpool and Manchester United captains in the history books on Sunday, by leading out a team at Wembley.

Lovell will captain Cockfosters, from Enfield in north London, in the FA Vase final against AFC Stoneham, based in the Hampshire town of Eastleigh.

The father-of-two always had plans to be at Wembley this weekend, though not quite like this.

Lovell is an escalator engineer from Hertfordshire and works for a company that has been responsible for installing, maintaining and upgrading the escalators at the national stadium.

It means he and his colleagues are required on site on the day of events in case there are any problems or issues.

Cockfosters beat Kent-based Punjab United 3-1 on aggregate over two legs in last month's semi-finals to book their place in the final.

It means Lovell will no longer be reporting to Wembley as an engineer this weekend, but instead will be looking to help his team lift the FA Vase for the first time in the club's history.

"Now that I have actually reached the final, no-one is working," Lovell tells BBC Sport.

"All of the lads are coming to watch me. We've passed the job on to someone else.

"One of my bosses actually turned around and said: 'Having a two-hour break to go and play football, are you?' He's had a good bit of banter with me about it."

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