League Two outfit Harrogate Town will open their 2023-24 EFL Trophy campaign with a home match against Nottingham Forest Under-21s on Tuesday evening.
The home side will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 loss to Barrow in the league on Saturday, while Forest Under-21s suffered a 1-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion Under-21s on Friday.
Match preview
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Harrogate actually started their 2023-24 campaign with back-to-back wins over Doncaster Rovers and Carlisle United in League Two and the EFL Cup respectively.
However, Simon Weaver's side have struggled for results since, losing five of their last six games in all competitions, including a thumping 8-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in the second round of the EFL Cup.
Harrogate, as mentioned, also suffered a 1-0 loss to Barrow in League Two on Saturday, and they are currently down in 19th position in their domestic table on six points.
The fourth-tier outfit reached the quarter-finals of the EFL Trophy in 2021-22, and they will be bidding to make an impression in this season's competition.
Harrogate will play in Northern Group C alongside Carlisle, Accrington Stanley and Forest Under-21s, and Weaver's team will be looking to make the perfect start to their campaign on Tuesday.
Forest Under-21s, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Brighton Under-21s on Friday evening, with Mark O'Mahony netting the only goal of the contest.
Warren Joyce's side have played four matches this season in Premier League 2, opening their campaign with back-to-back 2-2 draws against Middlesbrough Under-21s and Norwich Under-21s.
The Reds managed to record an impressive 2-0 win over Arsenal Under-21s on August 28 ahead of the loss to Brighton Under-21s last time out, and a total of five points from four games has left them 12th in the table.
A number of players will be aiming to impress for the second side in the hope of catching the eye of first-team boss Steve Cooper, although it is a difficult route into the senior side at this stage due to the amount of players that arrived during the summer transfer window.
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Team News
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Harrogate head coach Weaver will make changes from the side that started against Barrow in the league on Saturday, with the team back in League Two action against Gillingham next weekend.
Levi Sutton was replaced in the latter stages of the first half against Barrow, and the 26-year-old is not expected to be available for selection in this match.
Lewis Thomas is set to feature between the sticks, while Abraham Odoh, Matty Daly, Liam Gibson and George Horbury are likely to be among those to be introduced into the side.
Forest Under-21s have not reported any fresh concerns from their loss at Brighton Under-21s last time out, so it might well be a case of same again from Joyce in terms of team selection.
Detlef Osong is expected to lead the away side's attack, with Ateef Konate again likely to play as the number 10 for the Reds in this match.
A back four should also include Justin Hanks and Ben Hammond, while Jack Perkins is again expected to operate in a wide area for Joyce's side.
Harrogate Town possible starting lineup:
Thomas; Burrell, Smith, McDonald, Foulds; M Daly, Gibson, Horbury; Folarin, Odoh, Thomson
Nottingham Forest Under-21s possible starting lineup:
Brook; Hanks, Abbott, Hammond, Powell; Collins, McDonnell; Gardner, Konate, Perkins, Osong
We say: Harrogate Town 1-2 Nottingham Forest Under-21s
Forest Under-21s will fancy their chances of picking up a positive result here due to Harrogate's recent struggles. We are expecting it to be a competitive contest on Tuesday evening and are finding it difficult to separate them, but the visitors could just shade this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
