Wolves hope for another Checkatrade Trophy adventure

League One and Two clubs have voted to allow clubs with Category One academies to compete in the much-maligned tournament in 2017/18.

While opinion on the merits of the competition has been mixed to say the least, from Wolves’ point of view the revamped format was a success this season.

They reached the last 16 after beating Crewe, Accrington Stanley and Sunderland Under-21s and the performances of the likes of Bright Enobakhare, Morgan Gibbs-White and Harry Burgoyne directly led to boss Paul Lambert picking them for the first team.

There are 24 Premier League and Championship clubs with Category One status and only 16 places available. Entrants are decided on the 2016/17 league placings of their first teams, meaning Wolves require seven clubs to turn down an invitation if they’re to compete.

That’s something that Wolves academy boss Gareth Prosser certainly hopes is the case.

He told the Express & Star: “We hope it’ll be open to us next year – as a club we’re all for it.

“The vote has gone through and they’ve allowed 16 clubs to enter – there are 24 Category One teams so it predominantly goes to the Premier League sides first.

“We will need some of them to say no, if they’ve got other commitments such as the Under-19 UEFA league, for us to get our place.

“Fingers crossed we get it because we think it’s been a great addition to our programme this year."

The format has been altered slightly for next season. Controversial selection rules for League One and Two clubs have been relaxed, prize money has increased and academy teams will play all group matches away from home to try and avoid some of the farcically low attendances seen in big stadiums this season.

Prosser believes the benefit to Wolves of taking part again would be sizeable.

“The feedback from all clubs who took part this year was it was a great addition to the programme,” he added.

“So I would be surprised if one or two of the teams who didn’t take part this year think to give it a go.

“I can see people’s issues with the tournament as a whole. Sometimes when you wear your Wolves academy hat you can be a little bit blinded.

“But watching the games – I went to all apart from the Crewe game – were competitive.

“I can understand the argument from League One and League two sides about maybe having a bit more freedom to play players they would choose.

“The rules have been flexed this year to allow that to happen, so they’ve listened.

“It was a pilot, they’ve had the feedback and had the vote which includes a bit of flexibility around team selection.

“We hope to be part of the trophy again next year.

“If we’re not we’ll have to find other experiences to test our players.”