Sunderland will face Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United in next season’s Football League Trophy.
Their final group-stage opponents will be announced in Friday’s draw, but the Black Cats already know two of the sides they will be up against.
The Black Cats played at Grimsby in the 2017-18 group stage.
Then, they fielded a junior side but as a League One club, they now enter their first team.
Sunderland reached last season’s final at a sold-out Wembley, where they were beaten on penalties by Portsmouth after a 2-2 draw .
They played Scunthorpe United home and away in the league last season, comfortable 3-0 winners at the Stadium of Light in August, but held to a 1-1 draw at Glanford Park.
The Iron were relegated to League Two, and will be in the same division as the Mariners.
The final place in Group A will be taken by either Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Wolverhampton Wanderers’ under-21 teams.
Sunderland cannot face Newcastle United’s under-21s until the last eight stage, the point they met in the 2018-19 competition. The Black Cats won that game 4-0 at the Stadium of Light.
The draw takes place on TalkSport from 12.30pm on Friday with the opening games due to take place in the week commencing September 2.
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