Mansfield Town land Huddersfield Town and Harrogate Town in EFL Trophy draw

The first of two draws was made this morning with Stags picked out alongside their League One and League Two opponents in the Northern Section of the competition.

All 64 teams enter from Round One and are split into 16 regional groups of four, eight in the Northern region and eight in the Southern region.

The 16 invited U21 teams will next be placed into their respective Northern and Southern regional groups, with the 48 EFL clubs having been placed into pre-determined groups today prior to tomorrow's second draw.

Consideration has been given to ensure travel time is minimised and recovery time is maximised for players.

Whether games are home or away and who the Premier League U21 oppositin will be is decided when the second draw is made on Sky Sports from 2.30pm tomorrow (Thursday).

Premier League clubs in the northern section of the draw and their ball numbers are Everton (1), Leeds United (2), Liverpool (3), Manchester City (4), Manchester United (5), Newcastle United (6), Nottingham Forest (7), Wolverhampton Wanderers (8).

Provisional dates for the group games are w/c September 1st, October 6th and November 10th, but are subject to change dependent on potential international commitments at U21 level.

Stags crashed out of the competition at the group stage last season with boss Nigel Clough disappointed as he saw the games as very important for keeping his extended squad sharp.

Stags did beat Newcastle United U21s 3-0 but were already out of the competition, having lost their opening two games 2-0 at Rotherham United and 3-0 at home to Bradford City.

Mansfield Town will learn their EFL League One fixtures for the new season when they are released tomorrow morning at 9am and then the first round of the Carabao Cup draw will take place on Sky Sports at 4.30pm tomorrow too.