England C travel to Llanelli to face their Wales counterparts for the Anthony Hughes Trophy on Tuesday night.
The two sides meet for the fifth time and it is Wales who are on the hunt for revenge. England won 1-0 at Altrincham in 2023, winning courtesy of a Ryan de Havilland goal. He is now plays for Peterborough United in the EFL League One and could be playing Championship football next season.
Who will write their story in this fixture and potentially change the path of their career? We speak to freelance journalist Thomas Feaheny to get the lowdown on England and how Paul Fairclough might set things up.
It was a 1-0 win for England C in Altrincham in a game played in the not-of-greatest conditions. What was the feeling from England after that victory?
The last game really was one where the conditions won, which was a shame, the importance of the win after the 4-0 loss the time before though wasn’t lost and a few players really impressed that night.
Paul McCallum is the top scorer by some distance in the National League. What are his key strengths and what will Wales need to do to keep him contained?
McCallum has had a wonderful season so far, in a side that is now involved in a fight to stay up. He was on loan at Chesterfield last season and if Will Grigg hadn’t become a target I think they’d have pushed harder to keep him as he became a free agent. The move to Eastleigh has worked well, he’s strong, quick and was that name that seemed guaranteed for this game.
Ollie Pearce and Wyll Stanway have been called up from Step 2. What kind of players are they? Pearce has been in fine form this season…
Pearce has made a big impression, it was a bit of a coup that Worthing kept him because he was impressive last season and has kept going with that, he has been the standout player in the National League South.
Stanway has had a good season at Chester, he deserves the recognition, this season he has really come into his own, I watched him at Macclesfield and you could see he had what it takes to push on.
Jamie Grimes played for Haverfordwest County and Swansea City during the early stages of his career, but now he’s on the verge of a return to the EFL with Chesterfield. Just how good has he been for the Spireites this season, and is he Wales’ toughest opponent?
Grimes has been a key player for Chesterfield and you can tell he and Paul Cook enjoy working together, he really has done such a good job since Cook returned to the club, he signed him new contract so he’ll be in the EFL next season and he deserves that.
Looking at this England C squad, who do you think is capable of cutting it in the Football League?
This is a chance for some of these players to get a move and put themselves in the shop window, at Altrincham there were a few EFL managers watching and they’ll be scouts at this game as well, some have the experience of playing in the EFL before, I think every player deserved their call up and a few will move up the leagues in the summer.
And finally, how do you expect England C to line up?
There have already been a few changes with players from the contingency squad being brought up, it will be interesting to see when changes are made. Some of these players have important league games at the weekend.
England C predicted XI: Elliot Justham, Gus Scott-Morriss, Ollie Harfield, Tom Eastman, Myles Kenlock, Ed Francis, Reece Smith, Dan Pybus, Tom Conlon, Emmanuel Diseruvwe and Callum Maycock.
