The Saints striker came up against Everton’s number 6 while at QPR two seasons ago.
Southampton’s Charlie Austin
He may not be the quickest but Everton’s Phil Jagielka is certainly the toughest cente-back Charlie Austin has ever faced, the Southampton striker has told FourFourTwo magazine.
Austin is yet to face Jagielka this season, although the pair’s meeting while Austin was a Queens Park Rangers player left a lasting impression it seems.
Everton came away from Loftus Road with a 2-1 win that day, in March 2015, with their number 6 beaten by Eduardo Vargas’ strike, which happened to be set up by Austin.
Eduardo Vargas scores for QPR against Everton
Asked to name the toughest stopper he’s ever come up against, the 27-year-old told FourFourTwo: “Phil Jagielka. When I played against him for QPR at home to Everton he was very good. I thought, ‘Wow, I really need to be on my game here’ and I didn’t play well on the day.
Everton’s Phil Jagielka
“You go away thinking next time you face him, you’ll have a right go. I don’t think he’ll mind me saying he’s not blessed with pace, but I have spoken about strikers’ movements and he reads the game really well. As a forward, my movement had to be at the top of my game to get any chances against him.”
Austin has scored four goals from nine starts in this season’s Premier League campaign, and is looking very much like the player who impressed in his very first taste of the top-flight with QPR.
The former bricklayer, who was called into the England squad two months after that encounter with Jagielka, moved to Southampton in January of this year but struggled initially, scoring once in seven outings.
At one stage, Austin was tipped to follow his old Saints boss Ronald Koeman to Everton.
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