Having made an unbeaten start to the League Two season, Fleetwood Town travelled south to the capital in hope of extending that run on Saturday, but instead Charlie Adam‘s side were consigned to their first defeat.
Fleetwood came away from London empty-handed following a 1-0 loss to AFC Wimbledon, leaving them with a tally of five points from their first four matches.
After enduring relegation from League One, an immediate return to England’s third tier is the Lancashire club’s sole objective for their 2024-25 campaign, albeit knockout football has proven a welcome distraction.
Goals have not flowed freely for the Fishermen, but they did score twice in both of their EFL Cup ties during August, in which they saw off West Bromwich Albion and then Rotherham United.
Ryan Graydon found the net three times across those two matches against higher-level opponents, so the Irish striker may fancy his chances of exploiting an inexperienced defence on Tuesday evening.
Last time out, Aston Villa Under-21s were picked off by Arsenal’s latest crop of talented youngsters, suffering a 4-1 away defeat on Friday.
Head coach Josep Gombau had previously helped his team take four points from their first two games of the Premier League 2 season, following a win over Derby County with a 1-1 draw at Leeds United.
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Last term, Villa finished 16th, which was just good enough to snatch a spot in the playoffs, but they were then eliminated in the last 16 after an extra-time defeat to eventual champions Tottenham Hotspur.
The Midlands side also finished rock-bottom of their EFL Trophy group in 2023, picking up just one point in the process, so they will hope to fare better this time around.
