ACCRINGTON Stanley supremo Andy Holt said the Reds made a loss on their only EFL Trophy home game this season.

John Coleman’s side will try to qualify from the group stage when they travel to Molineux to face Wolves Under-23s tonight.

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The trophy has been blighted by small crowds as supporters of Football League clubs have boycotted fixtures in protest at Under-23 sides from academies being entered, with just 585 at the Wham Stadium for the game against Crewe.

That was far from the smallest attendance though, with Fleetwood’s home tie with Blackburn Rovers Under-23s watched by less than 400 people, while 457 saw Barnet lose 5-0 to Norwich City Under-23s.

“Our first game against Crewe was run at a loss, we won’t have made money out of that,” said Stanley owner Holt. “We took about £3,000 on the night, we can’t put the lights on for that. It’s madness.

“Everything about the Checkatrade Trophy and the Whole Game Solution is done for the wrong reasons for me, so it’s a complete non-starter.”

Holt said Stanley had voted against allowing Under-23 sides into the tournament, but believes some clubs had their arms twisted into voting for the changes to go ahead. We voted against it and, to be honest, there was a lot of people who were going to vote against it but changed their minds,” he said. “There’s a bit of pressure that if you don’t vote for these changes the Premier League will cut the funding and I don’t like that, that’s duress for me. That’s not a vote, that’s an instruction.”

And Holt believes the competition could yet end in ‘farce’ if two academy teams reach the final at Wembley, denying a lower league side their shot at a cup final under the arch.

The top two in each group will qualify for the first knockout round, with 32 teams playing 16 ties before the final in early April. “It’s our potential final for League One and League Two clubs,” said Holt. “It’s our only chance of getting to a cup final at Wembley realistically. Now you could have two Under-23 Premier League sides playing in our final at Wembley, it would be a farce.

“Let’s say Everton play us in a semi-final for arguments sake, they’re not going to want to lose and they can name a couple of senior players, so they can name a side that would put us out.

“Last year Oxford against Barnsley was the final and it was a great game and a great advert for League One and League Two, and they’ve ruined that.”