Town have drawn League One Exeter City away in the first round of the Carling Cup, one of the longest possible trips on offer. The match will be played in the week commencing 9th August.

The game will see the Blues reunited with former striker Marcus Stewart, who has signed on at St James' Park for one more season. Also on the staff at the Devon club is another ex-Town frontman, Richard Logan.

The sides last met in 1998/99 at the same stage of the competition when ties were played over two legs. The first leg in the south-west ended 1-1 with Matt Holland putting the Blues in front and Jonathan Richardson equalising for the Grecians in the final minute.

Town comfortably won the second leg at Portman Road, Mauricio Taricco, Holland again, Mick Stockwell, Alex Mathie and Paul Mason, playing his final game for the Blues, scoring the goals in a 5-1 victory. Richardson again netted for Exeter.

Overall, The Blues have won 10 games between the sides and the Grecians six with nine ending in draws. In addition to the 1998/99 League Cup matches, the teams have met once in the FA Cup, in 1951/52 when Town ran out 4-0 victors at Portman Road.

TWTD will have Town's full programme of league fixtures available on the site as soon as they are officially released at 9am tomorrow.

Meanwhile, TWTD has learned that the club is in talks regarding the possibility of a second home pre-season friendly against Premier League opposition with Tottenham the likely opponents.

Already confirmed is West Ham’s visit to Portman Road on Saturday 31st July, while the Blues will travel to Southend on Friday 9th July.

Town are also pencilled in to play PSV in Eindhoven on Saturday 17th July, but this game is still to be confirmed by either club. Further Dutch friendlies are also likely to be in the club’s plans.

The Blues' U18s will play their annual friendly in Southwold against Sole Bay United on Thursday 22nd July (6.30pm).

Carling Cup - Round One

Hartlepool United v Sheffield United
Leicester City v Macclesfield Town
Walsall v Tranmere Rovers
Carlisle United v Huddersfield Town
Stockport County v Preston North End
Barnsley v Rochdale
Morecambe v Coventry City
Doncaster Rovers v Accrington Stanley
Chesterfield v Middlesbrough
Peterborough United v Rotherham United
Bradford City v Nottingham Forest
Leeds United v Lincoln City
Sheffield Wednesday v Bury
Scunthorpe United v Oldham Athletic
Crewe Alexandra v Derby County
Exeter City v Ipswich Town
Southend United v Bristol City
Southampton v AFC Bournemouth
Brentford v Cheltenham Town
Queens Park Rangers v Port Vale
Torquay United v Reading
Norwich City v Gillingham
Stevenage v Portsmouth
Shrewsbury Town v Charlton Athletic
Cardiff City v Burton Albion
Northampton Town v Brighton & Hove Albion
Swansea City v Barnet
Plymouth Argyle v Notts County
Wycombe Wanderers v Millwall
Oxford United v Bristol Rovers
Milton Keynes Dons v Dagenham & Redbridge
Hereford United v Colchester United
Yeovil Town v Crystal Palace
Aldershot Town v Watford
Swindon Town v Leyton Orient

Photo: Action Images

YousBeTrollin added 09:32 - Jun 16 Bloody hell. Pretty much the longest trip out there. :p
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Suffolk_n_Good added 09:34 - Jun 16 oooooooo THE EXCITEMENT!! Roll on the League fixtures tomorrow!!
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NW10_Tractor added 09:36 - Jun 16 12 hour round trip! Looking forward to this one....
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Billy_Whizz added 09:44 - Jun 16 Am sure RK will play the 2nd string similar to last year - still very much winable!
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These_arent_the_days added 09:45 - Jun 16 With our Carling Cup Record a real tough one.
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Billy_Whizz added 09:58 - Jun 16 But at least the games are entertaining and full of goals - unfortunately in our net as well as the oppositions - then the obligatory extra time and penalties - could be a late one!
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PlymptonBlue added 10:05 - Jun 16 Tremendous news - an easy trip for me to watch the Reserves!!
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cobbolds added 10:06 - Jun 16 I bet we get bloody Norwich home and away tomorrow
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JetaimePeters added 10:06 - Jun 16 Richard Logan
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StowTractorBoy added 10:36 - Jun 16 So much for not having a long trip as was posted on here earlier in the week. You can't get much further. No crowd no money long trip - another disappointing draw. Aside from that I just wish the Club could give us something to be enthusiastic about i.e. perhaps a player actually signing for us before pre season training.
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dairec1 added 10:37 - Jun 16 Be nice to be able give marcus stewart a standing ovation if he plays
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OsborneOneNil added 10:49 - Jun 16 Fantastic!!! Aside from Yeovil or Bournemouth, this is my nearest game.
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mugsykets added 10:55 - Jun 16 Marcus Stewart ~ Town legend.
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SouperJim added 11:05 - Jun 16 The 98 home leg was my first ever Town game!
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itfc1981 added 11:05 - Jun 16 dont like the sound of a spurs game, hope its got nothing to do with Wickham!
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RobbieScarlatti added 11:27 - Jun 16 Being as i live in Bristol, i'm made up about that draw. A stinker for the rest of you guys, long old trip ahead.
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blueherts added 11:50 - Jun 16 Booked - just to give old Stewie a great ovation
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HampshireBlue added 12:17 - Jun 16 Well at least it is a shorter journey for me than a home tie.
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exeterblue10 added 12:44 - Jun 16 You couldn't make it up. Exeter-based lifelong Town fan and I'm away on holiday that week. Typical! Could be a tricky tie for Town. City only escaped the drop on the last day of the season but they actually play some good stuff and, like Town, would have finished much higher in the league if they could have turned draws into wins. Chopra's competitive debut for us maybe?

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nthstd added 12:44 - Jun 16 I object for two reasons 1) Exeter is my second team, as I lived there for 9 years 2) I'm on holiday!
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Blandford added 15:17 - Jun 16 That'll be a good test for our fringe players, and new signings - if we ever get anyone to join us. I know that there is a small tournament taking place in South Africa at the moment but were we not told by RK that he wanted to concentrate on managerial matters rather then earn a few bob as a pundit. Well the fixtures are out, pre-season starts in 12 days and rumours published by lazy jouralists are the closest we have come to improving our squad. Before the abuse comes flooding in I still believe RK could be the manager to take us up - but his lack of progress does not make it easy to justify such opinions - come on Roy give us long suffering fans some reason for optimism.

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IpswichElvis added 15:35 - Jun 16 Since our "messiah" (lol) is scouring the World Cup matches for new players, what do you think the chances are that we have a few North Koreans signed up by the time we play Exeter? At least we will be able to afford them........
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AJblue added 16:06 - Jun 16 IpswichElvis.... having watched the North Koreans las night, i think we could do a lot worse, passion energy and a never say die attitude, something a lot of our players (and fans) could do well to learn. As, though, they come from a country with a despotic leader, and are not "allowed" to play in the West, i doubt we will see any of them at PR.
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AJblue added 16:08 - Jun 16 Oh and Nthstd...perhaps you should have gone on holiday to Exeter, Devon is a lovely county as you know....problem solved
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IpswichElvis added 16:53 - Jun 16 Injuredanimal - The North Koreans had better do good or their rations will be cut by their beloved leader. Kim Jong Il and Keano - seperated at birth?
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