Albion Under-21s will play their final game in the National League Cup against Sutton United on Tuesday night (ko 7.30pm).
Despite playing three tightly-contested matches, the young Baggies have only gained one point from their Group D fixtures thus far, which was earned from their penalty-shootout defeat to Ebbsfleet during the opening clash back in October.
Still, owing to other results, they are mathematically unable to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Regardless of their fate being decided prior to their clash with the U’s, PDP boss Richard Beale believes his team’s participation has given them a number of really positive experiences against senior players.
Last time out
Albion's 21s were on the wrong side of a 3-2 loss to Braintree Town during their most recent outing in the NL Cup.
Reyes Cleary scored twice to put the Baggies in the ascendancy after initially falling behind at the Rare Breed Meat Co. Stadium, but the visitors couldn’t retain their advantage and fell to a late defeat.
Reyes Cleary netted a brace for a young Baggies XI in the National League Cup on Tuesday night. ⚽️⚽️
Watch the highlights from our encounter with @braintreetownfc on 𝗪𝗕𝗔 𝗧𝗩. 🎥— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) December 4, 2024
Venue
A trip to the VBS Community Stadium awaits the boys from the Black Country in their last match of the competition.
Sutton’s home ground has hosted two games in the tournament this term, seeing one win against Tottenham Hotspur and one defeat to West Ham United.
Pre-match thoughts
Evan Humphries has been seizing his opportunity back in the starting XI during recent weeks, and he is looking forward to testing himself against Sutton's experienced professionals on Tuesday.
The left-sided defender has had Josh Shaw playing ahead of him for much of the 2024/25 campaign, but that's not to say the Gloucestershire-born academy graduate hasn't impressed when thrusted into the action.
A fine individual goal against Southampton in the Premier League Cup last term showed the 19-year-old's impact going on the attack, in addition to his astute defensive qualities.
And the aim is to finish Albion's tenure in the NL Cup on a positive note in the capital against their fifth-tier counterparts.
"Unfortunately, my season has been pretty stop and start," said Evan.
"I would’ve loved to have hit the ground running after a strong finish to my scholarship, but I picked up a quad injury that saw me miss all of pre-season - which was a real shame.
"It was tough seeing all the lads get back to work and start competing for spots in the U21 team while I had to sit from the side.
"Since being fit, it's still been challenging and there have been lots of ups and downs throughout.
"My main highlight so far would be scoring against Southampton in the PL Cup. I haven’t scored since I was in the U16s, so to get that in front of my family and see how excited my teammates were for me really meant a lot.
"We’ve got such a strong squad with the more senior lads like Josh (Shaw) and Reece (Hall) being in the fold, but also a great bunch of younger lads that are always pushing to take our spots away from us.
"So I’ve had to be patient, kept working hard and I’m hoping my time for a good run in the team will come in the near future.
"I know it sounds really cliché but the main thing is just to keep working hard. For me personally, I’m always trying to pick the brains of the coaches and how they see the game.
"James Morrison has been really helpful for me over the last few weeks as he’s given me loads of useful information, and that's coming from someone that’s played at the highest level for a long time.
"At some point either towards the end of this season or any time next season i’d love to experience being on loan.
"Matty (Richards), Ron (Hollingshead) and Alex (Williams) are all on loan around the Birmingham area at the moment and have all mentioned how they enjoy playing senior matches and how it’s changed their game for the better.
"But I need to just keep working hard in the gym and on the pitch while listening to the coaches all the time and hopefully my opportunity to impress the new gaffer is right around the corner.
"Personally, I've loved playing in the National League Cup games. They’re a chance for us younger players to establish what the level is like at the National League. We’re all mature enough to understand that it’s very likely that most or some of us will play at this level, so to have this opportunity to understand what the game is like will be really beneficial to a lot of us boys."
How to follow
Updates will be provided across Albion's social channels on Tuesday’s National League Cup match against Sutton.
Supporters can also follow a live stream of Albion’s youngsters on National League TV here.
The National League have kindly provided the following step-by-step guide for fans looking to access the live feed on the night:
- Go to nationalleaguetv.com, press LOGIN, and register for a new account
- Use the verification code sent to your email inbox to complete your registration
- Return to nationalleaguetv.com within 30 minutes of kick-off when the streams begin, and select your match from the carousel on the homepage
