I'm pretty sure that there will be plenty of the usual 'mickey mouse cup' type jibes levelled at the Johnstones Paint Trophy during the course of the season but you will have to try telling that to the fans that go on to celebrate a victory and hold aloft a trophy at Wembley Stadium.

Some very competitive looking matches will be taking place tonight and what I am trying as best as I can to do for you is dig out the best available bets in the respective markets.
 
The matches which are of interest to me tonight are Hartlepool United v Leicester City, Brentford v Yeovil Town and Southend United v Leyton Orient.
 
HARTLEPOOL UNITED V LEICESTER CITY, 7pm Uk Time Kick Off

Leicester City go into this match having steamrollered Cheltenham on Saturday and gone within seven minutes of beating Premiership Fulham at Craven Cottage last Wednesday it is clear who the team to beat in the lower leagues is.
The counter argument to this is that this is a completely different competition and there will be a different team selected and a totally different outlook. This is true to a point, but the strength in depth that the Foxes have is significant enough to see them through to in this tie. For example, a second string team could include the likes of DJ Campbell, Paul Dickov and Radostan Kishishev and they all have Premiership experience.
Hartlepool are a solid team at League One level and will always play for the team badge but I thoroughly expect them to be beaten this evening.

RECOMMENDATION - 3 Points Leicester City @ 2.4 (Canbet)
 
BRENTFORD V YEOVIL TOWN, 7:30pm Uk Time Kick Off

Brentford have made a good start to their League Two campaign are beginning a long rebuilding process in order to try and get themselves back into League One, where the club will feel that they belong. It is perhaps this major motivating factor which will perhaps make them want to focus almost solely on the league and maybe give tonight's clash a wide berth.
Yeovil are a team that has mid-table mediocrity written all over them in League One. They have far too much in their locker for them to go down, yet still have too little in terms of depth of squad required in order for them to get promoted to the Championship. Such a drab season in prospect is sometimes just the motivation you require in order to try and get themselves a piece of silverware and a trip to Wembley.

RECOMMENDATION - 2 Points Yeovil @ 2.75 (Ladbrokes)
 
SOUTHEND UNITED V LEYTON ORIENT, 7.45 pm Uk Time Kick Off

Southend are traditionally a very strong home team I would suggest and I never really fancy Leyton Orient when they play away from Brisbane Road.
After a pretty indifferent start to the new season, I would suggest that Steve Tilson will be trying desperately to gain some sort of momentum for his side in any way possible. If this competition can aid their league form at all, I am sure they will go into this contest full-on looking for a win.
Orient are a good chance to be amongst the relegation candidates this season and therefore will perhaps be a little less motivated for this competition than some.
All of the aforementioned factors point to a probable home win in my estimation.

RECOMMENDATION - 3.5 Points Southend @ 1.95 (Totesport)
 
Good luck with all of your bets this evening.