Accrington Stanley might have the bottle to go all the way to Wembley

Tournament preview

The EFL Trophy has many detractors but the lure of a first Wembley visit has inspired Walsall and Lincoln in recent years and it could do the same for Accrington this season.

When Walsall reached the final in 2015 they were one of only four Football League clubs at the time - along with Accy, Crawley and Hartlepool - who had never played at the national stadium and last season's winners Lincoln also made a huge deal of breaking their Wembley duck having gone up as National League champions.

With Hartlepool relegated it's just Crawley and Accrington left to make their Wembley debuts and 66-1 Stanley are worth a stab having started Sky Bet League One life nicely in eighth spot after six matches.

Accy owner Andy Holt spoke last season of the importance of a cup run to boost their small budget and that could be even more pertinent following the early exit from the League Cup.

John Coleman's men are in a decent group with West Brom's academy side, who lost all of their games in this competition last season, Macclesfield, who are 23rd in League Two, and a Blackpool outfit who Accrington have already drawn with this season.

Accrington twice led in the knockout stages at Lincoln last term before suffering elimination so they are prepared to give the competition a decent crack judging on that effort.

Chelsea Academy, who have already started their campaign with a thumping 4-0 win at Swindon, could improve on last season's efforts when they reached the semi-finals before losing on penalties at Lincoln.

It's impossible to be confident of who the Blues will use throughout the competition but the likes of Lucas Piazon, Ethan Ampadu and Callum Hudson-Odoi are among their players who are not on loan and presumably in need of competitive minutes.

Recommendations
Accrington to win EFL Trophy
0.5pt each-way 66-1 general
Chelsea Academy to win EFL Trophy
0.5pt each-way 25-1 bet365, Sky Bet

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