Town will learn two of their EFL Trophy group opponents this afternoon but with the full details of the draw not confirmed until Friday.
The two EFL sides the Blues will face in their first ever appearance in the competition, known in the last few seasons as the Checkatrade Trophy, will be drawn and made public this afternoon.
However, the identity of the academy category one U21 team who will complete the four-team group won’t be confirmed until it is drawn on Friday live on talkSPORT at 12.30pm when the dates of the matches will also be announced.
The competition, featuring all the League One and Two teams plus 16 U21 sides, is regionalised on a north-south basis with eight groups.
The Blues’ EFL Trophy group fixtures - they play one EFL team at home, one away and the U21 team at home - get under way in the week commencing September 2nd with the games streamed by the EFL.
The 16 clubs whose U21s will be in the competition this season are Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Town’s group will almost certainly not feature Norwich City’s U21s with the authorities having prevented "high-profile clashes” with local rivals at that stage of the competition in previous seasons.