Palace Under-21s qualified as winners of Group H, ahead of Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Birmingham City.

An up and down start for the side saw them get off to a winning start with a 6-2 win against Middlesbrough, before succumbing 4-2 to Ipswich in their second game of the group.

A 4-1 victory over Birmingham away from home in their third game of the group was then petered out by a 4-0 defeat to Boro at Sutton.

In their penultimate game of the group, the side completed the double over Birmingham, setting up a grandstand finish in the group where all four teams were in with a chance of qualifying to the next stage.

Palace only needed a point to guarantee qualification to the latter stage, though they got all three and topped the group, as they edged past Ipswich with a 1-0 win.

This is the first time Palace have progressed into the knockout stage of the tournament, having narrowly missed out last season. They will welcome familiar opponents Leicester City to the VBS Community Stadium on Friday, 1st March in the round of 16. Tickets are available for this clash from just £2 – click HERE for more information.

Leicester City finished second in their group, ahead of Brentford and Burnley, but below Fulham. The two sides met and played out a 1-1 draw just over a week ago in Seagrave.

If you can’t make it to Sutton on Friday night, you can watch every minute of the action LIVE on Palace TV+ – click HERE to subscribe now!