Old pals in Sterling's sights

Our Development Squad returns to Checkatrade Trophy action when we face Portsmouth on Tuesday evening (7.45pm) and there could be some familiar faces lining up against us at Fratton Park.

Pompey boss Kenny Jackett, who himself spent some time helping out in our Academy the season before last, has two former Spurs men at his disposal with both goalkeeper Luke McGee and defender Anton Walkes in the League One leaders’ squad.

Goalkeeper Luke came up through the ranks at the Club to work with our first team, appearing on the bench a handful of times, before moving to Fratton Park in the summer of 2017 and was almost ever-present in his first season for Pompey as he played in all but three of their 53 games.

Versatile defender Anton made one competitive appearance for our first team in his time with us, in our 5-0 EFL Cup win over Gillingham in September, 2016. He went on to have loan spells with MLS side Atlanta United and Portsmouth before joining the latter permanently last summer.

The pair could line up against us in what is a first-v-second battle in Southern Group A of the competition, which pits senior Football League clubs against invited Premier League Under-21 sides.

Striker Kazaiah Sterling admits the squad are excited about the prospect of facing their former team-mates: “All the boys are really excited for the game. These are matches that we look forward to because they are really challenging, playing against Football League opposition,” said the forward, who will be hoping for his first action of the season in the competition.

“We know a few of their players already like Anton and Luke McGee, with them having been with us before they moved on. It would be great to play against them. They’re very good players, but we just have to prove on the night that we have enough talent to make the difference.”

Wayne Burnett’s side have enjoyed a solid start to their second ever foray into the Checkatrade Trophy, having endured a tough debut campaign last year, finishing bottom of the group, having collected just a single point from three games.

We currently sit second in Southern Group A behind Portsmouth, following a 1-1 draw at Crawley Town (beaten 5-3 on penalties) and a commanding 4-0 win over League One side Gillingham. A positive result on Tuesday or Crawley dropping points away to the Gills will see us qualify for the knockout stages for the first time.

While the squad know they face a tough test against Jackett’s team, Kazaiah feels that we learned some valuable lessons from our first season in the competition and that it is showing in our performances this time around: “It will be a very tough game so we have to prepare well and make ourselves ready for the test ahead of us. Portsmouth are currently top as well, so the game will be a really good challenge for us.

“I think we’ve learned a lot from last year. That was our first season playing in the competition so now this time we have a better idea of what to expect – we’re a lot more prepared and there is a real desire in the group to do well.”