Scott Sellars wants Checkatrade Trophy return for Wolves

Wolves bowed out of the competition after a narrow 2-1 defeat at Swansea last night.

Christian Herc had put Wolves into an early lead but two goals from Swans striker Oliver McBurnie dumped Wolves out of the tournament, with the winner coming in the 86th minute.

Wolves' exciting run to the last 16 including a late winner in a 3-2 thriller at Crewe and a penalty shoot-out victory over Sunderland, not to mention a 4-0 demolition of an experienced Accrington Stanley team.

The format of the Checkatrade Trophy, which has seen a number of Premier League and Championship clubs field academy teams, has been widely derided and crowds have been low across the country.

But from Wolves' perspective it's been a big success, allowing their talented band of youngsters to flourish in competitive matches.

And Sellars believes were it not for the competition then Connor Ronan, Harry Burgoyne and Morgan Gibbs-White may not have been handed their first-team debuts quite so readily by boss Paul Lambert.

"From our point of view I really hope they carry it on and give us this format again where we can go and play against men, in stadiums, regularly, and help teach these lads how to become footballers," Sellars said.

"I think it's our duty.

"In this country we spend millions and millions of pounds in terms of facilities and programmes and coaching but until this year I don't think we've delivered a games programme that's fit for purpose.

"Connor and Bright (Enobakhare) haven't had to go out on loan - they've gone straight into the first team.

"I think that's largely because they've had this exposure.

"Without this tournament I'm not sure Paul will have been as confident.

"It's been a fantastic tournament for the experience of playing against men and in a real competition.

"It's a bridge from the under-23s to the first team.

"People have complaints about the Checkatrade but after every European Championship or World Cup we moan for weeks that there are no kids coming through.

"This has been a fantastic tournament to say actually, there are a lot of good young players around.

"Do we need some of the players that come from abroad? I don't think we do.

"If we give these boys exposure to men's football I think they can have the same development pathway that they do abroad."

Ronan, Burgoyne and Gibbs-White have all made their first-team debuts in recent weeks, while Enobakhare is now a regular in Lambert's XI.

Sellars said he had 'massive respect' for Lambert for throwing them in at the deep end.

He added: "The big thing is Paul giving these lads an opportunity. He's just not saying they're good players, he's backing it up and putting them on the field.

"Any coach who does that I have massive respect for, because it's not easy.

"From our point of view we're really proud. To see Connor go to Sheffield Wednesday and be the best player on the pitch, to see Bright be a regular face in the team, and Harry's had his chance and didn't let anybody down.

"It's all really positive for what we're trying to do.

"At the moment there's a lot of success from the development side of it but hopefully there'll be success for the first team, from what these boys are doing."

If Wolves had won at the Liberty Stadium they would have been in the quarter finals and just two more victories from Wembley.

While disappointed with the crushing result, Sellars said he was proud of his players.

"It was a classic game of two halves," he added.

"In the first half we were excellent, I think we had 11 shots and the only thing I could be critical of was our finishing at times.

"What disappointed me a little bit was all the things I said at half time, we didn't do.

"We didn't play in their half, we tried to take the ball down the middle of the pitch, we don't tackle, the ball goes wide and there's a cross and it's a goal.

"From that point Swansea gained a lot of momentum and belief and we lost it a little bit.

"We had one or two half chances towards the end but over 90 minutes I think probably a draw was a fair result.

"I'm really proud of them. They're a joy to work with. They push each other, they drive each other and they're developing quickly."