When looking at the fixtures at this stage of the competition, it is often worth looking into which clubs tend to take this competition seriously, or who have got a strong record of success in the EFL Trophy. There are few clubs that can match the success of Bolton in this competition in recent years, a victory in 2023 followed by Northern quarter-final knockouts in the past two seasons.

This indicates that they have a good squad for the division and that they are able to rotate more effectively than many of the other clubs in the bottom two tiers.

Bolton have a remarkable head-to-head record against Port Vale as well. They have won seven of their last eight matches against Vale, and the last three have been home wins to nil. This includes a 4-0 thrashing in the league meeting in November, and a 2-0 win the last time they met in this competition in 2023.

Huddersfield's greater squad depth and confidence is going to help them to victory here over a beleaguered Rotherham United.

When looking through the history of this competition, there is an obvious trend of the top League One teams finishing in the final positions and eventually winning the trophy. Huddersfield are very much in the conversation of the play-off contenders in League One, and though the loss of Leo Castledine might have an overall negative effect, they have been strong in this tournament so far.

Three wins from four matches, and a loss to Harrogate, which was a big smash and grab, show that Lee Grant is putting some emphasis on this competition. They went to high-flying Lincoln and won 2-0 in the last round, and on the basis of that form, this price is more than reasonable against Rotherham.

The best that I can suggest for Rotherham is that they might see this tie as a break from their horrific league form. It is nine matches in a row without a win in the league, with six defeats on the bounce as well. Indeed, their only win in that period was a bizarre 7-2 win over Salford in the last round of this competition.

The Millers have lost eight of their 12 away matches in the league, and Huddersfield have already visited Rotherham and won comfortably 3-1 only a few weeks ago, so recent form is on their side as well.

Luton's journey in this competition has been goal-laden. They have been really successful so far, which is perhaps no surprise.

As a Premier League club only two seasons ago, they have remnants of a very strong squad depth, which is usually the key to getting through the opening stages of this competition.

Whatever they have chosen to do in the EFL Trophy. The success is clear to see. Their results in the competition have been 4-1 at home to Barnet, a 1-3 defeat to Cambridge, 3-1 at home to Brighton U21, and a 4-0 victory over Exeter in the last round, goals galore, and generally very positive results for Luton. I fancy them to progress here as well, but the goal line is the better value here.

This is mainly because Swindon definitely can contribute to the scoreline here as well. Whilst the Robins aren’t as free-flowing as they were earlier in the season, the return of this competition, and the lower stakes attached to it, may help loosen the straps on Ian Holloway’s game strategy.

Swindon’s group stage in this competition was full of goals. They won 3-2 against Reading, lost 2-3 to West Ham U21, and won 4-0 at MK Dons. They only won 1-0 over Peterborough in the opening knockout round, but many chances were also missed in that game.

Again, this comes down to the ability of the clubs here to put out a team that is the right mixture of fresh and high quality. Stockport have spent the last few windows building themselves a squad of impressive depth as well as top-line quality.

Benony Andresson came on and scored a last-second winner at the weekend, and is likely to start here with that confidence, which is likely to do him the world of good.

We are at the stage of the EFL Trophy in which everyone starts sensing the chance of a Wembley visit as well, so we are likely to see a little more desire and consideration of this in selection, so the quality of the teams do start making a difference. With Stockport in the play-offs of League One and Harrogate one of the worst teams in the EFL, this obviously makes Stockport strong favourites, and they would be even shorter than the current price if this happened to be in League play or even an FA Cup tie.

Stockport's record in the league recently, and in the EFL Trophy, suggests that we aren't necessarily expecting a huge number of goals here, but Harrogate have only scored 11 goals in 13 away league games in League Two, so Stockport may only need one or two to see this bet in.