Key Details ahead of Under-21s' trip to Braintree

Our Under-21s conclude their National League Cup group stage action tonight, travelling to the Rare Breed Meat Co. Stadium for a 7:45pm (UK) kick off - LIVE on SPURSPLAY.

Wayne Burnett's side still have a slim chance of progressing from Group D, as they would need to win by five goals, and hope it's a draw between Sutton United and Nottingham Forest's Under-21s when they play each other next month, in order to progress.

However, our boys come into this one unbeaten in their last three games in all competitions, including strong performances against Dinamo Zagreb and Liverpool last week at the Lamex Stadium.

You can find the key details ahead of the game, including ticket and streaming details below.

The Fixture

Who: Braintree Town Men's First Team

Where: Rare Breed Meat Co. Stadium (Cressing Road)

Competition: National League Cup

Kick Off: 7:45pm (UK)

Ticket Information

The hosts have reduced the admission prices for this fixture to £10 for adults and £5 for concessions (OAPs & Under 18s).

Tickets for this match will not be available for sale online - spectators can pay the reduced rates by card or cash at turnstiles 1-4.

Please note, there is no designated away end for this fixture.

Coverage Details

This game is LIVE to watch on SPURSPLAY, we'll also keep you up to date via our social channels and a full match report will be available after the final whistle.

Video Highlights will also be available online from Thursday.

What kit will we be in?

We'll be in our usual home colours, Lilywhite shirts with navy blue sleeves, navy blue shorts and white socks, whilst our goalkeeper will be in our all-yellow kit.

Braintree will be in their traditional orange shirts, with orange shorts and orange socks.

Ref Watch

Jason Richardson is in the middle for this one, he took charge of our 5-1 win over Wolves at the end of last season in Premier League 2.

He'll by assisted by Shaun Farrer and Bradley Monday, whilst Alexander Shipp is the fourth official.

The story so far...

Since our last game against Sutton United at the start of December, Dagenham & Redbridge have moved themselves back into a qualification spot for the knock-outs, thanks to a win against West Ham United's Under-21s, who themselves have been eliminated thanks to that defeat, despite beating Sutton and Ebbsfleet United.

Ebbsfleet are also out, failing to win any of their four group games, whilst West Brom's Under-21s have also suffered the same fate, finishing bottom of Group D with just two points, having completed all four of their group games.

Braintree have already sealed their spot in the knock-out stages, with nine points from their first three games they can't be caught and will top the Group D standings, regardless of tonight's result, 

The Daggers are currently second in the group, but have completed all their fixtures, clinging on to second place with seven points as it stands, however they can still be caught by three teams - including us.

Permutations

We need to beat Braintree, ideally by five clear goals, although four would be enough as we beat the Daggers on penalties when we travelled to the Chigwell Construction Stadium back in October.

That's because the National League Cup groups are ranked firstly by points, secondly on goal difference, then by goals scored, on which we'd be matched on all fronts, therefore our head-to-head record would decide who progressed.

It would then be all eyes on February's fixture between Sutton and Nottingham Forest's Under-21s, as both sides would need to win in order to have a chance of progressing.

If the game is a draw, Sutton would need to score at least five and take the bonus point courtesy of winning the penalty shoot-out to get into the top two.

Really both teams need to win the game inside the regulation 90 minutes, as that would move them above us and Dagenham on goal difference, whilst the bonus point wouldn't be enough for Forest to advance.