Portsmouth and Salford receive selection green light for Wembley occasion

The Football League yesterday scrapped the ruling that only those who featured in the 2019-20 campaign could participate in the delayed EFL Trophy final.

That would have left Salford with just five players who took part in their February 2020 semi-final win over Newport.

As for Pompey, they had 12 remaining for their dramatic triumph over Exeter.

However, the Football League have seen sense and both clubs can now pick players from this season for last term’s final.

The Papa John’s Trophy final takes place at Wembley on Saturday at 3pm.

Pompey are the reigning holders, having taken the silverware in March 2019, following a penalty shoot-out victory over Sunderland.

However, they will be without Callum Johnson and Alex Bass through injury, while Andy Cannon is also expected to miss out following a hamstring strain in Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat to Sunderland.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

On Saturday, March 13 Pompey will finally get their day at Wembley.

To celebrate the Blues’ place in the rearranged 2020 EFL Trophy Final, The News has launched an offer that gets you 25% off all our Sports subscriptions.

You can choose your perfect Sports subscription here and use the discount code ROADTOWEMBLEY25 to get the latest news from Fratton Park for less. Offer runs until midnight on March 15.