The EFL Trophy has been as strong as ever for the teams down in League One and League Two, and now with only four teams remaining, the semi-finals await.
The four teams left all play in the same league. League One. Plymouth Argyle who sit top of the tree in League One remain in the competition and are considered the favourites, Bolton Wanderers who are fighting in the playoffs, Cheltenham Town who sit just above the relegation zone and Accrington Stanley who are currently 21st just shy of safety.
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle are sitting happy at the top of League One, as Steven Schumacher has Argyle playing the way they’ve needed to hopefully get his side out of League One after previous failures of reaching the playoffs.
Argyle started their campaign by topping their group after a penalty shootout win against Bristol Rovers, a win at the county ground against Swindon Town and a late one nil winner from Niall Ennis who has 10 goals this season and has been a key contributor to The Pilgrims season.
Plymouth then faced Charlton in the first round of the play-offs as they won 3-2 at Home Park with a rare goal from youth player Caleb Roberts.
AFC Wimbledon was next for Argyle and it was a cracker. The Pilgrims trailed 3-0 at half time following a Kyle Hudlin brace. However, in the second half Sam Cosgrove scored a hat-trick to bring the game to 3-3 which was followed by a penalty shootout with a Bali Mumba winning penalty.
The game to secure a semi-final place for Schumacher’s men was away at the Memorial Stadium where they faced Bristol Rovers and scored two goals in the first to cement a 2-0 win and their place in the semi-finals.
Plymouth fan Toby Mcluskie had this to say on his sides journey through the competition.
“Usually we have a youth heavy team in the group stages that can’t make it out, but this year with the depth of our squad and quality of players we’ve brought in, it’s allowed the team to push for results and win games with the youth still getting minutes which is fun to see.”
“In the next round I’d prefer not to have Bolton but I think Argyle can get a result against any of the three teams.”
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton have endured a positive but steady season in League One as the Trotters sit fifth three points clear of seventh place Wycombe with Ian Evatt having a strong following in the Bolton faithful.
Bolton’s journey to the semi-finals of the competition has been strangely underwhelming. They topped their group by beating Crewe 4-1, drawing 2-2 against Tranmere however, losing on penalties and then defeating Leeds under 21s 3-0.
Despite outscoring their opponents 17-5 over their 6 games so far they’ve looked far from convincing.
A prime example of this was in their 4-0 round of 16 win over Manchester United Under 21s. With what looks like a conclusive score line three of the goals were scored in the last 15 minutes. The previous round they faced Barrow in a tightly knit game of 3-2 after losing a 2-0 lead they brought it back to win the game 3-2 through Elias Kachunga.
Their Quarter-final win came against Portsmouth with again a tight game, Bolton rode their luck to win 1-0 courtesy of Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.
Bolton twitter page BWFC Analysis gave their thoughts on the strategy throughout the competition.
“A competition that Wanderers fans have largely been apathetic towards is starting to pique some interest, now being just one win away from our first cup final in 19 years (losing the Carling Cup final 2-1 to Middlesbrough).”
“The best chance of getting there would clearly be to avoid Plymouth in the semi-final, with most chatter online amongst the Wanderers faithful tending to favour a home or away tie against Accrington due to the proximity of the clubs.”
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham have had a fairly successful EFL Trophy run this season facing off first against MK Dons where they got a 2-1 win at Stadium MK as a Charlie Brown winner got The Robins off to the perfect start.
They then followed up with a 2-1 win at home as they faced Walsall, with a 2-0 lead in the first half courtesy of Dan N’lundulu who is now at fellow semi-finalists Bolton and Liam Sercombe.
A late Danny Johnson goal for Walsall wasn’t enough as Cheltenham found themselves on six points.
However, they faced a West Ham Under 21s side at home, who came back after a Charlie Brown opener to win 1-2, the result didn’t affect the standings of the table as Cheltenham finished as runner-up in the group.
The first game of the knockouts was a big one. Forest Green Rovers. Cheltenham had never won at The New Lawn until the game as after trailing from a Josh March strike, Ryan Broom equalised to take it to 1-1, which then saw The Robins win on penalties following Forest Green goal scorer Josh March missing the decisive penalty.
With Chelsea Under 21s up next Wade Elliott’s men were on top form with a 4-0 win and in-form striker Charlie Brown scored a brace to take his tally up to four for the competition making him one of the top-scorers in the tournament.
The Quarter-final was a tough test against the Class of 92 owned Salford City as the Ammies took an early lead, Cheltenham bounced back through Ryan Broom.
The second half was brisk with a quickfire double from Sercombe and new signing Will Goodwin who signed from Stoke City on a 2 and a half year deal to send The Robins to the semis.
I think the Cheltenham faithful would favour a home tie again, most likely against the lowest ranked team left in the competition, Accrington. They’d want to avoid an away tie to Plymouth, if they were to get this they’d have a first test against them a month before the semi-finals.
Accrington Stanley
Accrington’s campaign began with a thriller versus Rochdale with the score line finishing at 3-3 draw after leading 2-0 to then be behind 3-2, and a late Tyrese Sinclair own goal took it to penalties where Stanley prevailed.
A 0-0 draw, then to defeat on penalties followed against Salford, but they bounced back with a 3-2 win over Liverpool Under 21s.
Wins versus Grimsby and Burton followed before a Quarter final clash at The LNER Stadium where they faced Lincoln. 2-2 was the final score line but a penalty shootout win booked their place in the final four.
Accrington twitter page RawMilkZine gave his opinion on what it would mean to walk out at Wembley.
“The EFL Trophy is always a strange competition to put into words. On the one hand, it’s a very realistic chance of getting to Wembley as a lower league club, on the other, it has been made into a bit of a circus in recent years with the involvement of Premier League Under 21 teams.”
“Speaking from an Accrington Stanley perspective, there’s added interest as we are one of the few clubs remaining in the league that has never had a trip to the home of football.”
“Cheltenham present our best possible chance of reaching the final, if the league table is to be followed. But, in the back of my mind that also presents the possibility of playing either Plymouth and Bolton at Wembley. With a full stand on their behalf, and a measly few thousand in our end. Not that it should matter, but can you imagine the grief we’d get on twitter?”
“I’ll take a home tie in the semi final and hope to watch the team walk out on the famous turf in April.”
The semi-finals will take place during the week commencing February 20th.
