‘No risks’ for Exeter City in EFL Trophy ‘dead rubber’ against West Brom’s U21s

Exeter City will be taking no risks with any of their players in their EFL Trophy tie with West Brom’s U21s on Tuesday night.

The Grecians have already booked their spot in the knockout stages, and only a three goal defeat will stop them from winning the group and booking a home round of 32 tie.

But while manager Matt Taylor said they will be going out to win the game, he won’t be risking any of his players and will be using it as preparation for Saturday’s home game with Oldham Athletic.

Some fringe players who needs minutes in their legs are set to be involved, while Taylor hinted that some of the U18s may also make their debuts for the club.

“We want to win games and we’d love to win every game but we are not good enough to do that yet,” Taylor said: “We will have to be sensible for Tuesday as it’s a dead rubber and we don’t want to put anyone at risk. It is a game to get minutes in some of their legs, but is preparation for the following weekend.”

Both Tom Parkes and Josh Key, who may have been rested regardless, are doubts for Tuesday’s game after picking up injuries in the 2-2 draw at Bradford City. Parkes came off at half-time with a knee injury, while Key was replaced in stoppage time after colliding with the post in keeping out a late free-kick.

But in better news, Alex Fisher was fit enough to return to the bench after his hamstring injury and will be in line for a start on Tuesday, while Nigel Atangana’s achilles problem has eased enough to enable him to return to training, while the likes of Ben Seymour, Alex Hartridge, Will Dean and Jake Caprice will all expect to be involved.

Taylor added: “We may be a couple of defenders down but we will have the bodies to step in. Some of the youngsters will be involved and they involved on the bench at Swindon. We will have a balance between youth and experience and there’s a group of players that need minutes.

“And a group of young players who impressed in the U18s, the likes of Sonny Cox and Nelson Iseguan are training with us, and hopefully we’ll expose some of them to minutes.”

With 16 academy teams in the EFL Trophy, West Brom know that a point will be enough to see them reach the knockout stage, where Manchester United, Manchester City, Wolves, Leicester City, West Ham, Arsenal, and Norwich City have already qualified, while Chelsea will join them if they beat…