Wigan captain Mario Melchiot would love to cause an FA Cup upset and dump former club Chelsea out of the competition on Saturday.The 31-year-old is not sure whether he will face the Blues in the fourth-round clash at the JJB Stadium, with manager Steve Bruce giving priority to Premier League survival.

Bruce rang the changes for Wigan's 3-0 third-round win at Sunderland, which included leaving Melchiot out of the squad.

The Latics face Middlesbrough at the Riverside in a vital relegation clash on Tuesday and there is every chance Melchiot will again be forced to watch from the sidelines.

However, the right-back is anxious to take on Chelsea, with whom he won an FA Cup winners' medal in 2000 after a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Wembley.

"The guys did well when they went up to Sunderland," Melchiot said.

"I wasn't involved but it was a great win and we performed well, but now it is going to be a totally different game and different situation.

"Obviously, it is up to the gaffer who starts the game because you know he is also thinking about the league.

"That is more important than the FA Cup, but despite that this is a game all the players want to be involved in, and I definitely want to be part of the team.

"But he (Bruce) is the manager, he picks the players and decides who is going to start, but for me as a player, I want to play."

Melchiot made 165 appearances for Chelsea during his five years at Stamford Bridge prior to first working with Bruce at Birmingham in 2004.

For Melchiot, Chelsea's FA Cup final triumph over Villa remains one of the major highlights of a career that started with trophies in Holland with Ajax.

"It was unbelievable," he said.

"When you win something it is always special, and I had won things before then. I had come from a club in Ajax that is used to winning trophies.

"But to win the FA Cup with Chelsea at the end of my first season was something very special. It was a great feeling.

"It also helped me to settle in England because when I first arrived everything was new for me.

"So for me to achieve something like that was a good start, and it made me realise how special the FA Cup is to the fans over here."

It is why Melchiot would now like to face his former employers and knock them out of the competition.

"This is a big game for us, Chelsea are a great team to play against, so it's something special," he added.

"While everybody knows our situation in the league, this is one of those games that puts a cherry on the cake of a season because it is Chelsea.

"It would be a great moment if we could cause an upset, and we're going to try. This is why the FA Cup is so special.

"Nothing is impossible in this competition. This is football, and that is why it is such a great game."

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