Walsall v Brighton U21 preview: Isaac Hutchinson eyeing a shot at Wembley in EFL Trophy

The Saddlers kick-off their EFL Trophy campaign when Brighton & Hove Albion Under-21s visit Bescot under the lights on Tuesday night.

Mat Sadler’s men will now prepare for three successive matches on home soil after playing four of the first five fixtures on the road.

These two sides previously met in this competition back in September 2021 with Walsall running out 1-0 winners.

Brighton boast a strong track record for producing young talent in recent years with the likes of Robert Sanchez, Lewis Dunk, Ben White, Solly March and Evan Ferguson all breaking through the club’s youth ranks.

Hutchinson also spent eight years with the Seagulls – contributing seven goals and two assists in 45 appearances for their under-18s.

The midfielder is fully aware of the quality within Brighton’s ranks, and is determined to give the EFL Trophy his very best this season.

Hutchinson revealed: “The good thing about football is there’s always an opportunity to bounce back. The category one teams, especially teams like Brighton, they’ve got really good players.

“I know first hand from being there so it’s a game we won’t take lightly.

“We will definitely take this seriously. This is a good opportunity for every League One and League Two club to get to Wembley.”

Brighton overcame Chelsea to win 3-2 at Kingsmeadow last Friday. Tariq Lamptey was involved for the under-21s against his former club as he stepped up his recovery from injury.

Winger Luca Barrington bagged a brace for his side, and finished his debut season in Premier League 2 with a respectable six goals and eight assists from 24 appearances last term.

Another danger man will be midfielder Andrew Moran. The 19-year-old scored 10 and set-up six more in Premier League 2 last term, and was presented with his first team debut from the bench in Brighton’s 4-1 win over Everton in January.

Shannon Ruth was appointed Brighton Under-21s boss in September 2022 and finished sixth in his debut campaign.

The Saddlers lost all three matches in the group stage last term, and have not progressed beyond the Third Round since reaching the final under Dean Smith in 2015.

Sadler hinted at the possibility of Ronan Maher featuring tomorrow, and believes the game will provide players with another opportunity to stake a claim.

“We’ll dust ourselves down today, we will take stock, review the game and then start planning for that game,” Sadler said.

“We’ll put together a team that we think will win the game. We will see how the game on Tuesday looks for Ronan.

“It’s the next game for the ones that are playing the games to give their all and put themselves in the window for the next game.”