STUNNING scenes played out in the EFL Trophy clash between Luton and Swindon as a teamsheet mix-up led to a “major whoopsie”.
Luton and Swindon were locking horns in the round of 16 on Tuesday night at Kenilworth Road.
However, the clash had to be stopped in the 67th minute due to a player in the squad NOT being named on the teamsheet.
Footballer Aaron Drinan was NOT named on the official teamsheet for visitors Swindon, but was on the teamsheet given to the media.
Instead, Swindon’s official matchday squad list had Ryan Tafazolli on it.
But Drinan was one of three players who were brought on at half-time by manager Ian Holloway.
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The Luton bench, realising Drinan had come on despite not being registered on the official squad sheet, were left stunned by the turn of events and took some time before catching the attention of the referee.
Swindon boss Ian Holloway, who was also blindsided by the confusion, offered to immediately substitute Drinan off when the mistake was realised.
Former Arsenal star Jack Wilshere told him not to bother and the game carried on, with Swindon ending up coming from behind to win 2-1.
Speaking after the game, Holloway said it was a “major whoopsie” from the officials and admitted he expected some sort of action to be taken against the League Two outfit as a result.
He told the BBC: “There’ll be some sort of action because something’s gone wrong in the system.
“When we used to write the teamsheet down it was never wrong, was it? But when it’s on an iPad and it’s now shown to us how can I say, ‘Is that my team?’ if I haven’t checked it?
“So no one checked it and it’s too late to check it once the game’s gone on. They noticed it because one of their staff noticed it.
“It’s a major whoopsie, I would suggest, from the officials. So is that us?”
Wilshere urged the EFL to investigate the bizarre case and backed them to find the right decision.
He told the BBC: “We’ll leave it with the EFL and trust that they’ll come to the right decision.
“Whatever the rules are, the rules are. I felt like the decision could have been made quicker which was frustrating, it’s either we carry on or we’re stopping.
“But the EFL will (have to) investigate and they’ll come to the right decision hopefully.”
Wilshere added he and his assistant manager Chris Powell were happy Drinan was not on the teamsheet due to him being one of their best players, and did not even notice the gaffe.
He added it was a “mistake from their end”, but once again reiterated his desire to see the EFL come to the right decision.
BBC reporter Geoff Doyle said he expects to see punishment for Swindon, which could be in the form of them being booted out of the tournament.
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