3 Chelsea youngsters to look out for in EFL Trophy tie with Forest Green Rovers

Chelsea's youngsters head to Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday night in the second round of this season's Papa John's Trophy.

The Blues ' kids qualified from the group stage with six points and their reward is a trip to The Fully Charged New Lawn to face the League Two leaders.

Andy Myers' side are likely to face a stern test as they bid to move into the next round of the competition. They will be bidding to match or even better their feat from 2017-18 when they reached the semi-finals.

That remains the best achievement so far by a Premier League academy side.

Here, we look at three Chelsea youngsters who could make the difference for the Blues on Tuesday evening.

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Harvey Vale

The youngster has already been involved in senior training and was even on the bench for recent clashes with Malmo and Southampton.

The 18-year-old is highly-rated within the Blues' camp and his versatility is seen as one of his strengths. He can play on the left wing but is mostly deployed in a central midfield position.

He scored in the 1-1 draw with Brighton last Friday - his fifth of the season - and will be hoping to make his mark here.

Xavier Mbuyamba

The Dutch defender has played every minute in the Papa John's Trophy so far and has also been impressing in Premier League 2.

He recently notched two headed goals in a 3-1 win over Leeds that had Chelsea fans purring.

He will likely have his hands full this evening with Forest Green having scored the most goals of any side in League Two this term.

George McEachran

Brother of former Chelsea man Josh, George is a crucial part of Myers' side.

He keeps things ticking over and also chips in with his fair share of assists and goals too.

Another who has been ever-present in this competition, the 21-year-old will be hoping to catch the eye again tonight.

Fresh rules added

The second round of the EFL Trophy has seen new rules implemented. Teams are now permitted to make five substitutions from the seven they nominate for the remainder of the 2021/22 competition.

This evening's game, and indeed all 16 second round clashes, will go straight to penalties if they are level after 90 minutes.

The 16 winning teams will remain split regionally for round three, but will be unseeded.

The third round draw takes place on Saturday, December 4.