Owen Coyle saluted his crafty Clarets after they sprung a major upset against Arsene Wenger’s young guns to reach the last four of the Carling Cup.
On a night of surprises, which saw
Derby beat Stoke at the Britannia Stadium, Coyle lauded his young bucks after a Kevin McDonald brace saw the Clarets record a 2-0 win at Turf Moor.
Now, if
Watford can cause another upset against
Spurs, it would mean there will be THREE Championship sides in the semi finals and only ONE from the Premier League (Manchester United or Blackburn).
Coyle’s Burnley boys have already knocked out Fulham and Chelsea from the top flight and are sitting pretty in the Championship play-off zone. However, Coyle insists their future is going to be even brighter after putting Arsenal to the sword.
“A lot was made about the young players Arsenal have, but I had five or six young players out there and that augurs well for the future of our club,” he told Sky Sports.
“That’s the standard that we’ve been setting of late and we had to replicate that. We could have very well got to that standard and lost, because of the quality Arsenal have. If you switch off you will be punished.
“We scored two very good goals and could have had a couple more. I’m absolutely delighted, the atmosphere was a real football environment, and I’m delighted that we’ve given everyone a very enjoyable night.
“There’s no doubt that we’ve been big underdogs in all the games against Chelsea, Fulham and Arsenal. The lads have worked their socks off, we knew we had to be resolute and keep a nice shape.
“Brian Jensen has made a few magnificent saves in the game and to reach the semi-final is a magnificent achievement for everyone at the football club, and went a long way to adding to the history of this football club
“All we asked was that they come in after without regretting anything and they did that. We’ve shown that we can play a bit. We’ve shown that there are good sides in the Championship and good individual players.”
Coyle claimed he wasn’t concerned who Burnley drew in the semi-final stages with Tottenham and Manchester United playing their respective quarter-finals tonight.
“Whoever we get we will be underdogs so it really doesn't matter who we get,” he added. “There's only ourselves and three others in it so who knows what will happen.”
Coyle’s strength of belief was echoed by goalkeeper Brian Jensen who enjoyed a storming performance to keep a clean sheet and he went one stage further by suggesting the Clarets could actually lift the Carling Cup.
He said: “Why not? Anything can happen in football. It is a massive game for the club because it is the semi-finals. With a good draw and a little bit of luck then who knows? We will probably be underdogs.”
No excuses from Arsene
It was a different story for Wenger who came crashing down to earth with a bump after watching his side beat Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday.
However, he offered no excuses for their defeat and admitted Burnley deserved credit for their performance. “We had six one-on-ones with the goalkeeper and didn’t score, and we were a bit fragile at the back as well,” he said.
“Overall we had plenty of chances but if you don’t score your one-on-ones, you have to question your right to qualify. You have to praise their keeper and question our strikers.”
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