Owen Coyle, the Burnley manager, has hailed the players who knocked Chelsea out of the Carling Cup at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Coyle reserved special praise for Ade Akinbiyi, who scored Burnley's equaliser in the 1-1 draw after extra time, and for Brian Jensen, the goalkeeper who saved two Chelsea penalties in the shoot-out that his team won 5-4 to move into the quarter-finals of the competition.

Akinbiyi, who has played for 11 different clubs, costing a total of more than £15 million in transfer fees - the £5 million paid by Leicester City to Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 2000 representing the largest single payment - coolly tucked home a rebound nine minutes after taking the field as a substitute in the second half. “Ade has had an unbelievable career, and moved for an awful lot of money,” Coyle said. “He has been out of the 16 for six or seven games because of the emergence of young Jay Rodriguez, but he has been nothing but a model professional.

“Every day he is out there, and team spirit is so important to him. Even when he is not involved he is wishing the boys luck, cajoling and encouraging them. Substitutions don't always work out, but I thought we needed a physical presence because their two lads at the back are physically strong, and Ade is intimidated by no one.”

Akinbiyi said: “We weren't going to come here and lay down low. I was surprised how little they threatened in the second half. They seemed to get tired towards the end.”

Jensen, the Danish goalkeeper known as “The Beast”, described the result as the biggest achievement of a career that includes 199 appearances for Burnley since moving from West Bromwich Albion in June 2003. “Chelsea had lost one of 86 games at home and yet we came here and turned them over, which shows that anything can happen in football,” he said. “It still hasn't sunk in yet, but I haven't lost a penalty shoot-out with Burnley and I was determined to keep it that way.”

Coyle fancied his keeper to help win the shoot-out, and was not surprised when he made vital stops from Wayne Bridge and Jon Obi Mikel. “Brian has been outstanding all season, and we knew that he was capable of saving at least one of Chelsea's kicks,” Coyle said. “I'm overjoyed because it is a reward for how hard he has been working in training as well as games.”