The Clarets host League 1 leaders Oldham Athletic tonight in the Carling Cup second round.

And although Coyle's focus is firmly on progressing past the Latics, he is also working hard to boost his squad ahead of the deadline at midnight on Monday.

Coyle has been linked with a number of centre backs, as well as targetmen, and he hinted that one potential arrival could be from the Premier League: "I'm anticipating doing something this week.

"We've been in talks with one or two regarding a loan, and we're getting a little bit closer.

"It's not 100%, but we're certainly moving in the right direction.

"Any signing won't necessarily be a loan, but the one I'm taking about would be, so that tells you he's coming from a club where we probably couldn't afford to pay the fee, or they're not prepared to let him go long term.

"Hopefully that will come to fruition, but we're certainly trying to move that on."

Meanwhile, he also disclosed that, while there have been no firm enquiries for his players, that may well change over the coming days: "There might be an opportunity to wheel and deal, but at the moment there is nothing concrete."

Ahead of tonight's game, where Coyle can name seven substitutes, there could be a chance for both Alan Mahon and Remco van der Schaaf, who both travelled to Crystal Palace, but were not in the 16-man matchday squad.

Mahon has recovered from a slight knock that saw him sit out the reserves' win over Bury last Wednesday, and he said: "Mahony took a knock last week in training that forced him to miss the reserve game, and then he trained on Friday.

"He was a little bit unlucky to miss out on the 16, because he came on against Ipswich for the last 10 minutes, and I thought he did well.

"He's an absolute credit to himself though, he's on that training ground and he works his socks off."

And van der Schaaf is also close to a return as he builds up his fitness after injury disrupted his pre-season: "Remco's coming on, he played the 90 minutes in the reserves, and has now got a fitness base.

What we need to do now is sharpen his feet up for the quicker stuff when the ball breaks in the middle of the park.

"He's recognised that himself. When I look back over pre-season, he missed the first 10 days with us, and then played the second 45 minutes of our first game in America.

"He got a thigh strain, and it was stop-start from there, but he's had a solid two weeks' training under his belt now, and he'll be ready to go when he sharpens his feet up, which will be a great boost."

And while there were the regulation knocks after the goal-less draw at Selhurst Park, Coyle expects to have a full squad to face the Latics: "We have the usual bumps and bruises, but hopefully they will settle down and we will be ready for what is an important cup tie, and a chance to progress in the competition.

"There's not much time to recover, and it is a very difficult tie.

Oldham are absolutely flying at the top of League 1, and will come here in good fettle, feeling they can cause an upset."

But there is competition developing within the squad, with Kevin McDonald taking his chance on his first start against the Eagles, and Coyle was pleased with his efforts: "Kevin was tiring, that's why we took him off late in the game.

"He'd been away to Lithuania with Scotland Under 21s and played nearly 90 minutes, scored a goal and travelled back during the week then travelled down to London, so I think that was a big ask of him.

But I think he showed that, at 19, he's got a big, big future ahead of him."

Christian Kalvenes also shone on his first league start, in place of Stephen Jordan, and Coyle added: "There were one or two unlucky to miss out.

"The bottom line was that as much as we played very well at the start of the game against Ipswich, we lost a home game and we had to be seen to be doing something about it and rectifying that.

"In the main, yes, Stephen was disappointed – but the bottom line is I've said to them if they get that jersey, they have to make sure they're at the top of their game to make sure they keep it.

"Once you're in the team, really the only thing you can do is play your way out of it."