Lure of Wembley is a welcome distraction for rivals
TONIGHT’S Football League Trophy quarter-final between Bradford City and Doncaster Rovers could be the shot in the arm the winners need.
It is fashionable and understandable to talk down the Trophy, the least-respected of all competitions English league clubs play for.
Once just for third and fourth-tier sides but now open to elite academy teams too, its drawn-out format struggles to attract crowds.
But for one Yorkshire side, victory at Valley Parade will put them a game away from Wembley.
Given both are having yet another season of under-achievement, that is a huge incentive.
Both began the League Two season targeting promotion yet Bradford are 18th, their only win in the last eight matches having come in this competition, and Doncaster one place above the relegation zone after conceding five at home for the second time in six weeks on Saturday.
“We're excited for the second half of the season to put some decent results together and see where we go,” said Rovers manager Grant McCann, pictured, a competition winner with Peterborough United in 2014 and a goalscoring runner-up with Scunthorpe United five years earlier. “The league's always been the most important thing for us but the EFL Trophy is always a nice little thing on the side that we've had a decent run in so far and we've played some really good football in it, like in the Mansfield game.
“It's been beneficial because a lot of players have got minutes in it, younger players have played and we've changed the team around, which we can definitely do now with the bodies coming back.
“Two games from Wembley, if we can beat Bradford, we'll see.”
Bradford have never won it but Doncaster lifted the trophy in 2007.
Playing the final at Wembley is what keeps the competition relevant for players and fans alike when it gets to the later knockout stages. “It gets mentioned,” admitted Bantams central defender Sam Stubbs, who owes his place back in the team to his goalscoring performance against Derby County in the previous round. “It was probably a bit tongue in cheek before the Derby game but seeing the teams left in it, it becomes a little bit more real.
“You’re only two games of football away from Wembley.
“We were good at Derby and justified the win.
“It’s obviously exciting but there are a lot of games between now and where you could possibly get to in that competition.”
Despite that incentive, team changes are likely – perhaps even more so after the weekend's performances.
January signings Matthew Craig, Ben Waters and Hakeeb Adelakun are all cup-tied for the visitors, as is Bradford’s new goalkeeper Sam Walker.
Defenders Jon Tomkinson and Matty Platt will be pushing for inclusion, and Jake Young could benefit from more minutes having made his return from injury as a weekend substitute against the Swindon Town side he spent a productive first half of the season on loan at.