Luton a 'big test' in Checkatrade Trophy, says past winner Wayne Burnett

A little piece of Club history will be made on Tuesday night (August 15) as our Under-21s step out in the Checkatrade Trophy for the first time with a trip to Luton Town.

Category One academies from Premier League and Championship clubs were invited to compete in the tournament for the first time last season and, although we weren’t involved then, we’re all set to make our ‘debut’ this time around in what has historically been a cherished competition among teams from the Football League.

Drawn in Group F alongside Barnet, AFC Wimbledon and Luton, we’ll take on the latter side at Kenilworth Road at 7.45pm on Tuesday and coach Wayne Burnett, who won the competition as a player with Grimsby Town back in 1998, scoring the winning goal in the final against Bournemouth at Wembley, says the chance to face senior Football League players in a competitive game is ideal for our youngsters’ development.

“These games are key,” he told Spurs TV. “For us to go up against a team like Luton, who are probably one of the favourites to be promoted from League Two, I think is invaluable.

“The experience our players will gain from it will be key to their development but we can’t just go out there and play – we’re going there to try to win and that’s all part of the development process as well. Hopefully we can give a good account of ourselves against a very strong Luton team.”

Tuesday night’s hosts got off to a dream start to the 2017-18 campaign last weekend with an 8-2 thrashing of Yeovil Town in their League Two curtain-raiser, but a 2-0 home defeat to Ipswich Town in the EFL Cup in midweek was followed by a 1-0 domestic loss at Barnet on Saturday.

“I’ve watched Luton twice now, the last two Saturdays and it will be a very competitive game for us,” added Wayne. “They won quite comfortably against Yeovil and they’ve got some very good players with some real league experience in there, plus they’ve got some depth in their squad so whoever they put out, it will be a real test.

“It’s one that we’re looking forward to, though, and we’re certainly going there looking to come away with the right result.”

Come along and support the team at Luton on Tuesday night – ticket details here…