Although the competition is boycotted in large, the Iron did indeed progress into the knockout stages of the Checkatrade Trophy, after winning Group H.
The draw is regionalised into North and South and has been structured so that the winners of Northern groups A, B, C and D will play the runners up of groups E, F, G and H – and the winners of E, F, G and H will play the runners up of A, B, C and D.
So who could we face in the next round, I hear you say?
Group A:
Leicester City u23s are currently in second spot, with Fleetwood Town top. However, Carlisle – who are in third – play Fleetwood tonight (Oh the excitement!) in the final game of the group.
What that means, is if Carlisle can get a draw against Cod Army tonight, they would jump into second on goal difference (even if they lost the penalty shoot-out) and become one of the potential fixtures for the next round – but if they can win by more than two goals, they would go top, knocking their visitors down into second – booting out Leicester, and meaning we could face the Fleet. If Fleetwood win, Leicester will progress as runners up. So that’s still three teams we could potentially face from this group.
Group B:
Ah, this one is a bit easier to explain, as all of the fixtures have been completed. Blackpool finished top, and Accrington Stanley (Who are they?) ended runners up. So, Accy could be coming to GP – a return to Glanford Park for Iron legend Billy Kee.
Group C:
B*lloc*s, this one is difficult to explain again. Right, Rochdale are top, and have won one and drawn two, ending on six points. Blackburn are currently second on four points having won one, drawn one and lost one. Bury (third) are on three points, and host Stoke’s under 23s (fourth), who are on two points.
The possibilites are this: Bury win by eight goals they go top, bumping Rochdale into second due to goal difference – however, a Shakers win of more than eight goals (hmm) would see them hop above Dale – knocking them into second, and Rovers into third. In the event of a draw, Stoke still cannot progress due to GD, whilst Bury would jump into second if they were to win the penalty shoot-out for the bonus point. They only way Stoke can progress is if they win tonight, where they would go above both Bury and Blackburn and into second – meaning they could face the Iron. All four teams in this group could yet face us.
Group D:
Yay, this group is already sorted. Port Vale are the group winners, whilst Oldham finished second. That makes the Latics one of the four teams we could host.
In conclusion:
We have two out of the four teams we could face sorted, but tonight’s fixtures will determine the other two. Accrington and Oldham are the two lucky teams so far.
When is the draw?
The draw is on Friday at Wembley Stadium at 6.30pm. It can be followed on Twitter via @checkatradeTrpy.
When will the ties be?
The ties are due to start the week beginning December 4th.
Where will it be?
It will be at Glanford Park, as we were the winners of a group.
Right, I’m off for a lay down in a dark room… #UTI
Any Old Iron 