Pre-season games announced ahead of big fixtures release day for promoted Mansfield Town

And they will learn their opposition in the Carabao Cup on Thursday along with which Premier League U21 side joins them in their Bristol Street Motors Trophy group.

The club have also released their pre-season fixtures schedule, which includes a game against Premier League Chelsea’s U21s at a training camp in Portugal.

The squad will report for pre-season on Friday, 5th July before heading to Retford United for the first friendly on Tuesday, 16th July (7.30pm).

They then travel to Hucknall Town on Saturday, 20th July (3pm) before heading to Portugal, where they face the Blues' U21s.

Stags’ home friendly at One Call Stadium against Oxford United will take place on Saturday, 27th July, with a 3pm kick-off.

Alfreton Town is the destination on Tuesday, 30th July (7.30pm) then it's off to Grimsby Town on Saturday, 3rd August (3pm) before a final game on Tuesday, 6th August (7.45pm) ahead of the big kick-off on the Saturday.

Stags will be ball number 21 for the first round draw of the Carabao Cup, which will take place live on Sky Sports News tomorrow (Thursday) at 11.30am.

The draw sees 70 clubs across the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two divisions enter at this stage.

Burnley, Luton Town and the 13 Premier League clubs not participating in European club competitions will enter the competition in Round Two, with the remaining seven clubs joining the competition in Round Three.

The Carabao Cup remains regionalised in the early rounds with the draw split into a southern and northern section until Round Three.

Round One ties will take place week commencing 12th August.

Matches in all rounds are single-legged, with the exception of the semi-final ties, and determined by penalties after 90 minutes if the game is drawn apart from extra time that would be played in the semi-finals second leg and the final.

Mansfield have already learned this week that they will compete against Bradford City, Rotherham United and an invited U21 team from the Premier League in Group H of next season’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

The invited U21 team will be drawn live on Sky Sports News on Thursday from 2.30pm.

The EFL can confirm the 16 invited sides from Premier League Clubs with Category One Academies that will join Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two Clubs in the 2024/25 Bristol Street Motors Trophy competition.

This season’s U21 sides hail from Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and last season’s quarter-finalists, Brighton & Hove Albion.

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

The 16 invited U21 teams will be placed into their respective Northern and Southern regional Groups, with the 48 EFL clubs placed into pre-determined groups prior to the draw.

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

Details have now been finalised for the first team’s training camp in Albufeira, Portugal, from Sunday, 21st July to Friday, 26th July during which Stags will play Chelsea U21s in a friendly at Estadio Municipal de Albufeira on Tuesday, 23rd July (6.30pm kick-off local time).

Supporters can watch the match by purchasing tickets - via cash only - at the stadium on the evening of the game for €10 (adults) and €5 (U12s and over 65s). Any further details will be announced in due course.

Manager Nigel Clough said: “It will be good to go out to Portugal for five to six days and the game against Chelsea under-21s will be an important part of our preparations.

“The third week of pre-season is always very important and it will be a tough week for the players.”