Up for the cups in 20/21

[officer_dibble]

Be some team for this game. Whenever it is! What’s the fine for dropping everyone?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Be some team for this game. Whenever it is! What’s the fine for dropping everyone?

That last game is a fortnight yesterday, between the Crewe FA Cup game and the Salford "clash". I think by then he'll have a pretty strong idea of his second XI, but some of them may be experienced enough for us to avoid punishment.

[GhostoftheBok]

Honestly, we shouldn't knock it. The league trophy has always been a joke to teams like us, but these are big games for the young players involved. Its a chance for players like Senior and Darcy to push hard for league starts. The manager should also take it seriously on that basis. He can't know enough about the young lads yet, to know whether or not they can play a part in his rebuilding job here. The academy is vital at this level and it's obviously much, much easier to produce players for this level than if you're a club like Man City who want CL quality players. Evatt needs to show that there is a route into the first team and that good EFL Trophy performances are part of that.

Getting lads through these games and into the first team is a big step in rebuilding the academy system and drawing young players to the club. Hopefully Evatt has a long term vision.

[officer_dibble]

I actually keep thinking we should have a proper go at it. What I would say is that this season in a condensed season being out of it early is probably beneficial. Plenty of league games now!

I don’t think it should be a training ground for elite academies mind. If they weren’t in it more of them would be forced to go out on loan or look elsewhere for football - a talent redistribution.

[jimbo]

Papa Johns have got sponsorship of Super League in exchange for providing pizzas to the players after each match. I suspect the EFL have managed to negotiate a better deal than that!