BURNLEY manager Owen Coyle is desperate for his players to follow in his footsteps by beating Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Lancashire Telegraph Sport understands that Arsene Wenger will send a virtual full-strength team to Turf Moor.

But Coyle is confident his side will push them all the way.

The Clarets boss was part of the Bolton Wanderers side that, as underdogs, knocked out a strong Gunners team in a fourth round replay at Highbury in 1994, and he fancies a repeat.

He said: "I think when you enter into games like that you're always looking for something to inspire, and something to show you it is achievable, and I've got no doubt that from the players we've got, some of them will have played as underdogs, some of them will have played as favourites, and they know the feeling of boths sides of the coin," he said.

"Obviously we go into this as massive underdogs, but it's been shown before that it can be done and I think that's why we all love the FA Cup.

"It's the most glamorous national cup competition in world football.

"It's probably over-stated but there's a real magic to it; there's a freshness about it.

"Come Sunday, it will be a packed house here and we want to reward the fans for the loyalty and support they've given us, and it wouldn't come any better than going and achieving a result against Arsenal to do that for them."

For Coyle, the memories of that cup shock are still fresh.

"We were equivalent to a Championship club at the time, probably sitting where we are in mid-table at the moment," explained the 41-year-old, who scored in a 2-2 draw at Burnden Park in the initial tie.

"Arsenal were the cup holders at the time, they'd conceded three goals in the previous eight Premiership games so they were a formidable team.

"Their back line consisted of Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Bould, Winterburn.

"But we showed in both games that you can score and we could hurt the opposition.

"We drew two-each at Burnden and disproved the theory that smaller teams only get one bite of the cherry because we went to Highbury, really we played out of our skin, and won the game 3-1, and deservedly so.

"There was nothing lucky about it. We won that on merit," continued Coyle, who had a hand making it 2-1 as his shot hit the post and Jason McAteer scored from the rebound.

"It can be achieved and we'll do our best to do that on Sunday.

"We won't make any claims, but what we will say is that we'll give our best to try to do that and we'll see where that brings us."

But Coyle, who is in discussions with "three or four different clubs" as he seeks to strengthen his Clarets squad in the January transfer window, highlighted the precariousness of the cup as he revealed the Trotters almost didn't make it that far.

"I don't know if a lot of people are aware of it, but as much as we went on to beat Everton (in the third round), Arsenal and Aston Villa in the fifth round and then lose the quarter final to Oldham, in the first round we were losing 2-1 at home to Gretna, who were in the UniBond League, with eight minutes to go.

"We could very easily have been out of the cup in the first round and not had that cup run, so I think it shows you the nature of the cup and how it can change very quickly. As it was we went on to beat Gretna 3-2. I think somebody scored a double late on!" he smiled.

"But the beauty about that was we came through the first round and then we go on to take care of these top, top teams. So I think that's why we all love the cup.

"And even when you think Oldham had beaten us, barring a Mark Hughes wondergoal in the semi-final to make it 3-3 and take it to a replay, Oldham would have been in the final.

"So football changes so quickly, and I think that's why we all love the FA Cup.

"On any bounce of a ball or shot at goal things can change so dramatically."

And Coyle urged his players to use their recent Championship disappointments - most notably the 3-0 defeat at Blackpool on New Year's Day - as a catalyst.

"It's important we bounce back from that and bounce back quickly," he said.

"Whether the 11th game in five weeks was one game too many I don't really know, but it gives us the opportunity to bounce back, and it doesn't really come any better than Arsenal in the cup.

"I think they knew themselves and we knew collectively that we had let everyone down, and that's not a particularly nice feeling. It was horrible in fact!

"So we've now got the opportunity to give them something to shout about against a team that are arguably the best in Europe. That would be a great tonic for everybody.

"They don't come any tougher than Arsenal, but it's live to the nation and we want to go, as we did for the live Wolves game, and show that we are a good team and we have good players that can hurt Arsenal if they play to their maximum.

"Equally they have a few who can cause us problems so we need to make sure we're totally concentrated and look to give of our best."