County's Checkatrade Trophy group will now also include Chelsea, alongside Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town
The Round One draw of the 2018/19 Checkatrade Trophy took place on Wednesday 18 July with Chelsea becoming the final team to be placed in County's group, alongside opponents Swindon Town and Plymouth Argyle which were previously drawn.
The draw took place at 1pm, with details shared via the EFL’s social media channels and on Twitter via the @CheckatradeTrpy account.
The 48 EFL Clubs have been placed into pre-determined Groups, with consideration given to ensure travel time is minimised for supporters and recovery time is maximised for players. In addition, if there is a situation where two teams meet in the Group Stages for a second successive season, then the Club who was at home in 2017/18 will play away in 2018/19. All EFL Clubs will play two of their three matches at home in the Group Stages.
The tournament's format will remain much the same as the 2017/18 Season with the following small changes to the Regulations: Players from EFL Clubs who are out on loan in the National League and below are now eligible to feature in the competition; invited teams have been restricted to fielding two players over the age of 21 and more than 40 first-team appearances.