Newcastle back on Sky Sports TONIGHT as Under-21s take on Bradford City

Newcastle United’s Under-21s are back on Sky Sports+ tonight, with a 7.30pm BST kick-off away at Bradford City in the EFL Trophy.

With the first team not playing again until Coventry away on 12 October, it’s another chance to get our fix of watching the lads in black and white.

Kyran Thompson gave supporters something to enjoy in last week’s 3-1 win at York, marking his first U21 start with a goal and an assist. Vakhtang Salia and Afner Cá also scored, but tonight’s opponents should provide a tougher examination.

Who could feature tonight?

Robbie Stockdale has kept a consistent core through the recent games, with captain Scott Bailey, Logan Watts and Matheos Ferreira starting against Boreham Wood, York and Leeds. Cá has featured in all three, earning a start against Leeds after his goal from the bench at York.

Michael Mills and Mason Miley also deserve attention. Both were on the first-team bench against Hull on Saturday, alongside Thompson, Salia and Miodrag Pivaš, which explains why those five were absent from the U21 side that afternoon.

Stockdale’s assessment of Mills in his interview with Chronicle Live before the Hull game gives a good idea of what the 17-year-old offers:

“He plays anywhere across the front, any of the two wide positions or as a number nine. Super quick, really, really quick. Great attitude to try and win the ball back, tough, will go into tackles, really exciting player.”

There is international duty to factor in, though. Mills, Thompson, Roman Dowell and Sam Alabi have England Under-18 call-ups for a tournament starting in Switzerland on Thursday, while Salia is in Georgia’s Under-21 squad for games beginning on Saturday. We don’t yet know whether those five will be available tonight.

Bradford will take some beating

Bradford have won their last four games across league and cup, beating Mansfield, Leyton Orient, Notts County and Luton while conceding just once.

Newcastle go into this after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Leeds. The win at York also owed plenty to Dowell, whose early saves kept us in the game before the turnaround.

A second Trophy win would leave us with six points from two away games. With Bradford in this form, that would be an excellent return.

Howay the young lads!