Brentford B will welcome Brighton and Hove Albion Under-21s to Wheatsheaf Park on Sunday (2pm kick-off) as they continue their packed pre-season schedule.
Fresh from a training camp in Wales, concluded with a behind-closed-doors fixture against Exeter City, Neil MacFarlane’s side will look to continue their build towards the season against the young Seagulls.
MacFarlane was excited by the challenge when speaking on the fixture, especially given the show the two teams put on in a friendly at Wheatsheaf Park last season.
“I thought it was an outstanding game of football at the Wheatsheaf [last season], one of our favourites of the season, so another brilliant challenge,” he said.
“That’s all we want in this games programme, continuously testing the players, and we want more of it, we’re exposed to these types of games and really pushing the players because that will only stand them in good stead.”
The Brentford faithful made their presence felt last season at the new home of the Brentford Academy, something MacFarlane hopes will continue come Sunday.
“The Wheatsheaf is an amazing place for us to play our home games and the turnout there from our supporters has been fantastic. Last season we were getting 1,000, 1,500 people at the games,” explained MacFarlane.
“We want them to come out in force because that’s part of the players’ development, playing in front of people. We’re just trying to feed experiences into these players and facilitating what we hope is a really good career for them moving forward.”
Ticket information
Tickets can be purchased online now. A QR code will be available at the gate where supporters can buy tickets online; the box office will not be open.
Adults: £3
Under-18s: Free
About Brighton and Hove Albion U21s
The young Seagulls are coming off a 2023/24 campaign in which they finished the season 13th in the Premier League 2 table, with eight wins, five draws and seven losses.
The group’s recent pre-season fixtures brought mixed results, having beaten Bournemouth 5-1 and lost to Hastings United 1-0.
Brighton have had their EFL Trophy group-stage fixtures locked in for this season, their group consisting of AFC Wimbledon, Crawley Town and Wycombe Wanderers. They begin their campaign against Crawley at Broadfield Stadium on Tuesday 20 August.
Match coverage
The club will have updates of the match against Brighton on social media, as well as a match report on the official website and our new official app.