Whether it’s getting light and dark blue hearts broken in the final seconds at White Hart Lane or trouncing Chesterfield in their own back garden, Wycombe Wanderers and cup competitions are synonymous with each other.

However, there’s always one trophy that has evaded Gareth Ainsworth and his Chairboys’ priorities: the EFL Trophy.

Once a much respected ‘lower league’ competition where League One and Two clubs battled it out with their own real chance at additional silverware to league competition, the downfall of the trophy has been somewhat spectacular.

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Fingers may be pointed towards the introduction of 16 under-21 teams from the Premier League and Championship to the competition, on top of the 48 League One and Two clubs already participating.

Attendance figures are the first real instance of the downfall of what once was a beloved competition.

During the 2015/16 competition, attendance figures stood at an average of 4,364, compared to 1,979 in 2016/17.

And it’s no coincidence that the 16/17 season was the first one to be rebranded as the EFL Trophy, away from the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

The 2016 reworking of the competition saw an introduction of group stages to the competition alongside youth squads.

This meant that the number of games in the competition’s total heightened from 49 to 127, adding further strain and injury concerns to the many thin lower league squads competing.

Additionally, one particular rule change has added to the controversy of the EFL Trophy: the 'full available strength' rule.

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As a result of this, clubs must field at least four players who participated in the prior or following league fixtures or have at least 40 senior appearances.

This particular introduction forces EFL clubs into fielding a stronger team than they may particularly intend to play, increasing risks of injury to squads that lack depth.

This has been seen over the years at Wycombe Wanderers, and insults their starters into competing in fixtures against youth sides who have seemingly invaded a once treasured competition.

The modern reworking of the third most prestigious cup competition in England has certainly divided opinions of EFL fans.

So much so that the “Against League 3” campaign began over social media, displaying vehement opposition towards the use of B teams within established competitions.

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Whether Gareth Ainsworth’s men will field a stronger team in the EFL Trophy and fancy their chances on the road to Wembley this year remains to be seen.

However, Wanderers fans can certainly expect to see an increased number of fresh legs on Tuesday’s reintroduction of the competition as they face off with Tottenham Hotspur’s U21 side, as this year’s EFL Trophy gets underway at Adams Park.