Walsall have today been drawn to face Burton Albion, Port Vale and an unknown invited under 21 side in the group stages of the Checkatrade Trophy.
The tournament has been under fire since the Football League and Shaun Harvey decided to invite under 21 sides into the tournament.
The under 21 sides were invited into the tournament as the FA and Football League believe it will continue to help the development of the national squad.
One of the unknown invited clubs that the Saddlers will face in the group stages will come from one of the below
1. Everton U21
2. Leicester City U21
3. Manchester City U21
4. Middlesbrough U21
5. Newcastle United U21
6. Stoke City U21
7. West Bromwich Albion U21
8. Wolverhampton Wanderers U21
Given that the first round is as local as it can be then you would assume that either WBA, Wolves and Stoke will complete the first round.
The format for this year’s competition is much the same as 2017/18, with only a couple of 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, while invited teams have been restricted to fielding two players over the age of 21 and more than 40 first-team appearances.
