It’s only ten days since the sides met in League Two at the Broadfield Stadium, with Crawley running out 3-0 winners and ending the game in second place in the table, although Sutton were poorly served by refereeing decisions, particularly the free kick from which Crawley scored their second goal. Since then Crawley have lost to Doncaster and Wrexham to drop out of the promotion places, while Saturday’s win against Walsall lifted Sutton off the bottom of the table.

It’s the second round of group games in Southern Group B in the EFL Trophy, with Charlton hosting Aston Villa’s Under 21s on Tuesday, and Crawley go in to the games on top of the group after their 4-3 win against Charlton last month. Villa’s penalty shoot out success at Sutton leaves them in second, but two home victories on Tuesday would leave all sides in with a chance of qualifying for the knock out stages, while wins for Crawley and Villa would guarantee their qualification and render Sutton’s visit to The Valley next month as academic.

Crawley last qualified from the group stages in the 2016-17 season, while U’s first appearance in the competition ended with a trip to Wembley in 2022 before going out to Wimbledon in the first knock out stage The sides last met in cup football in 1995, when U’s won 4-1 in the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup, current director Dominic Feltham scoring twice.

As happened in U’s game against Aston Villa last month, if the scores are level after 90 minutes each side will gain a point and a penalty shootout will then take place, the winners of which get an extra point.

Tuesday’s referee Kirsty Dowle is a FIFA referee who officiates in the WSL and the National League. She refereed the 2022 Women’s FA Cup final and the 2023 Women’s League Cup final and last Friday was in charge of the WSL game between Manchster United and Arsenal.

Season tickets are not valid for the game, but admission prices are reduced to £12 for adults, £7 for concessions and £3 for juniors age 12-18. Tickets for under 12s are free if bought in conjunction with an adult or concession ticket. Seat prices are £4 more in all cases. Tickets will be available on the night at no additional cost. 

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Supporters unable to get to the game can watch the game in full as a live stream on our iFollow service for £10. Match passes can be bought here. A match programme can also be ordered on line to be sent out after the game, cost £4 plus postage, on this link.

Our women’s team also have a game tonight, away to Dorking Wanderers in the London & South East Regional League, kick off 7.45pm at Meadowbank, and we hope to have updates over the PA system and in our iFollow commentary during the evening.