Accrington Stanley v Leeds United U21
Tuesday 8th September 7.00pm | EFL Trophy | Wham Stadium
Leeds United U21s will compete in the EFL Trophy for the first time on Tuesday evening following the granting of Category One status for the academy by the Premier League. Sixteen academy sides enter the EFL Trophy at Round One and for the 2020/21 season Leeds United are one of those sides. Drawn in group G our young players will compete against Barrow, Blackpool and first up Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium.
To fulfil the rules Leeds must have at least six of the starting eleven players who were aged under 21 as at the 30th and no more than two players who are aged 21 or over and have made 40 or more appearances in a First Team. With the U23 side expected to be held back for a training match against the first team later this week as they prepare to face Liverpool in the season opener on Saturday, a very young U18s side is expected to take the field against Accrington Stanley. Whilst many Leeds fans would have liked to have got an early look at the likes of Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood, they may have to wait just a bit longer.
But Charlie Allen is in line to make his first competitive start for the Whites tonight after joining from Linfield in the summer. A number of players who featured in last season's FA Youth Cup run are also expected to play a part, including Cooper Skerry, Owen Bray and Josh Galloway who faced Manchester United at Old Trafford in February. John Coleman's Accrington Stanley will be hoping to go further than last season's quarter-final exit at the hands of Salford. Influential midfielder Joe Pritchard is a doubt after picking up a knock in the defeat to Burton, but can call upon recent arrivals Matt Butcher, Mo Sangare and Tariq Uwakwe.
Leeds United do have some recent history with the EFL Trophy, back in our League One days. It wasn’t a particularly successful competition for Leeds though and crowds as low as 8,000 turned out at Elland Road on cold Tuesday nights to watch. At their first attempt in 2007-08 Leeds lost to Bury in the quarter finals, in 2008-09 they were knocked out in the second round to Rotherham whilst in 2009-10 they beat this seasons opponents Accrington Stanley before losing in the Northern final on penalties to Carlisle United.
Match passes for the game are £10 on the Accrington Stanley iFollow site.
Leeds Starting XI
Skerry, Galloway, Sutcliffe, Kachosa, Leverett, Moore, Mullen, Bray, Pilkington, Allen, Dean
Subs: Chrsity, Chikukwa, Carole, Hughes, Teale, Littlewood, Coleman
