West Brom academy boss Mark Harrison says the Checkatrade Trophy is a great opportunity for the club's youngsters.

The Baggies start the competition away at Walsall tonight, after jumping at the chance to be included in the controversial tournament again as one of 16 category one academy sides.

"We certainly found it a fantastic experience for the young players," Harrison said. “We played against a number of senior professionals at their home grounds. We went down to Millwall and there was a decent crowd there.

“Lo and behold Millwall go on and get promotion. Steve Morrison comes off the bench and plays for x amount of minutes which is a great experience for our players. That was a real eye-opener for them – you can see the difference in the level that he was playing at."