A TWEAK to the current format would please Swindon Town head coach Luke Williams when it comes to the future of the EFL Trophy.

League One and Two clubs will vote next month on whether to revise the competition or to scrap it completely from the calendar.

Last season, with the introduction of U23 teams from the top two tiers of English football, saw fans boycott games, with fears of it being a step to introducing ‘B teams’ into the Football League.

With clubs being restricted to playing at least five players from their previous league game in the competition, many teams were also fined for breaching the rules and Williams would like to see that aspect of the tournament addressed.

“I would just like the rules loosened slightly for the amount of changes we can make,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s because anybody wants to disrespect the competition, but we have fairly small squads.

“The smaller the club you are, you probably have less seasoned players in your ranks and with the beginning of the season being Saturday, Tuesday almost for six weeks, or eight weeks, it is incredibly difficult on the squad and the staff.

“If players are playing two games a week, ever week, then you’ll really need to rely on those players all season.

“There’s a chance you’ll lose them through injury and suspension and so on. It would be better if we could change more.”

However, Williams is not wanting to see the competition, which is sponsored by Checkatrade, scrapped completely, with it forming a useful platform to blood new talent from the youth team.

“From the managers I have spoken to, we really value being able to keep involved a lot of our players,” he added.

“Also, to be able to give some of the young players a chance to play in an atmosphere they don’t play in, against an opposition that probably have four or five players who are very experienced, that they don’t really get the chance to play against that type too often.

“We can really see which players are stepping forward and they may come into your league team off of really good performances in that EFL Trophy.

“I think the idea of what they did this year was brilliant, it’s just to loosen up the rules slightly.”