Sunderland AFC will face Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United in round one of the 2019-20 EFL Trophy. All 48 EFL Clubs have been placed into pre-determined groups, with consideration given to ensure that travel time is minimised for supporters and recovery time is maximised for players. Jack Ross’ side, who reached the final of the competition last season, will discover their third and final Group A opponent on Friday, as the 16 invited under-21 teams are placed into their respective groups. The draw will take place live on talkSPORT from 12.30pm, with the Black Cats set to face one under-21 outfit from Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United or Wolverhampton Wanderers. Kicking off week commencing 2nd September, the Lads will play two of their Group A games on home soil, with further details to follow after Friday’s draw.
Hope we play the kids in every round, including the final if we get there again. If we're not allowed and have to play the senior team I hope we throw our group stage games and get ourselves eliminated ASAP. It's a ****, pointless joke of a trophy. Last season's run to the final was nice but we can't afford any distractions this year. Promotion has to be the only goal.
Play the kids and get knocked out. Last year I wanted us to get to the final & Wembley, I was hyped up for the final more than any other game that far in the season. And I was ****ing wrong. We're in the third division. There is bound to be end-of-season fixture congestion due to games being called off on crap pitches during the winter. We do NOT need extra games in April/May 'cos of the Tin Pot. Oh, unless we get the Mags' under-21 of course, beat them but lose the other two Thanks to RTB as ever.
100% agree. Play the youths and forget about it. Fun as it was it cost us big time last season, and it wouldn’t have anything like the appeal second time around. Pie it.
This cannot in any way become a priority over our league campaign as happened last season. We need to bin it asap.
Very costly day out last season in more ways than one, its a worthless distraction in our situation. as we and Portsmouth found out.
Wembley was a good weekend jaunt for supporters of a 3rd division club ... ... but I'm sure the novelty has worn off, especially after the play off final. People can blame all kinds of things for our failure to go up but we had dreadful luck with injuries. Key players like Grigg, McGeady, Watmore, Maguire, etc all lost or limping through games. None of those players should be risked in Trophy games, everything has to go into winning games. I'm sure the whole club have realised that 1 goal won't win many games in this league. Once we're a goal up we have to go all out for the second because the opposition know they have no other option but to score. Sitting back just encourages them to launch ball after ball into a defence that can't sustain concentration. Use the trophy as training games, trying out new ideas, giving youngsters match involvement and bringing returning players up to full fitness ... ... but don't treat it as a target that the fans don't really care about.
Agree with all above our number one priority is promotion,can't wait to play the mag's next season.ktf.
