OWEN Coyle is the master of cup upsets, but even he admits there is still plenty to learn.

Where better to do that, then, than occupying the opposite dugout to a World Cup winner.

While his players test themselves against the Premier League’s elite tonight, Coyle will trade tactics with former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

“Hopefully I can learn and I will certainly be looking to pick his brains after the game when we sit down for a chat,” said Coyle, who was in the Bolton team of the old First Division that knocked Everton, Arsenal and Aston Villa out of the FA Cup in 1993/94.

“For my own personal development it’s tremendous and obviously I am looking to continue that, so I’ll cream what I can off him to try to make me and this football club better.”

And he has urged his players to mirror that mentality.

“As a player I felt very privileged to mix it with the elite and that’s exactly what’s happened here,” he said.

“I am now hoping that my young players, the likes of Chris McCann and Jay Rodriguez, can see close up what it takes to be a top player. It takes more than just ability, which the Chelsea lads undoubtedly have.

“But when they can stand on that pitch and play against them, they will see in their make-up the range of assets and attributes you need week in and week out to play in the Premier League and the Champions League.

“Hopefully, it will be a tremendous learning curve for my young players.

“Chelsea are top of the Premier League, one of the favourites for the Champions League, and they don’t just have international class players - some of these lads are world class players.

“For my players to go and enter that arena and play against these players it’s a marvellous occasion.”

But Coyle insists Burnley aren’t just there to make up the numbers.

“Upsets have happened many times before - I’ve been involved in both sides of it, as a favourite and as the underdog. That’s why we all love cup competitions because it provides that opportunity for the underdogs - and we’re massive underdogs!” he said.

“It’s going to take every ounce of effort that we’ve got, but it can be done. It’s been done before in football. So we’ll go there, we’ll take that belief and try to make a real game of it.”

It’s two years since Coyle guided his former club, St Johnstone, to victory over Rangers at Ibrox in the Scottish League Cup quarter final, but the Burnley boss insists a win tonight would match that achievement.

“St Johnstone were a First Division club going to Rangers where they hadn’t won in over 30-odd years and we were terrific on the night and won comfortably if the truth be told,” he said.

“I don’t see that being the case (tonight), but if it was it would emulate that experience because, as much as Rangers are a good side and one of the top teams in Scotland, Chelsea would be up there as one of the top sides in the world.”

And Coyle admitted he felt sorry that suspended defender Clarke Carlisle had to miss out.

“You go from game to game in the Championship trying to earn points, then all of a sudden you’ve got a glamour tie and I think you can go into it looking forward to it, knowing that the expectation is that Chelsea will win because they’ve got everything at their disposal,” he said.

“It would have been nice for Clarke to be a part of that because of everything he’s already given us then he was certainly deserving of it.”