The Arsenal U21 side will play in Group E of the Checkatrade Southern Group. Read on to find out the three EFL sides the junior gunners have been drawn against.

The draw for the Checkatrade Trophy has been made.

The Arsenal U21 side have been drawn in Group E in the southern section.

They will face Cheltenham Town, Coventry City and Forest Green Rovers.

The side will join U21 teams from Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in the forthcoming competition which starts in September and will feature the 48 League One and League Two clubs.

The format is designed to give the country’s leading young footballers the opportunity to gain experience of first-team football, while also providing EFL Clubs with an opportunity to attract new audiences and additional revenue in a competition that has long provided League One and League Two Clubs with a chance of silverware.

The first round of group stage fixtures is scheduled to take place in the week commencing Monday, September 3 with all of the Arsenal U21 group stage matches played away from home.

The invited teams were selected based on their final league position at the end of the 2017-18 season. The first 16 were invited to take part, and then subsequent teams – with Category One Academy status – invited as required.

Apart from Arsenal the other Premier League teams include Newcastle United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Southampton, Chelsea, Stoke City, Everton,

Swansea City, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City, West Ham United, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion.

A number of minor rule changes have been confirmed for 2018-19 with EFL clubs now being given the opportunity to name players who are out on loan at National League Clubs, while invited teams will only be able to name two players over the age of 21 and with more than 40 first team appearances.

The group stage consists of sixteen groups of four teams with each group to contain one invited team.

Groups are formed to minimise overall travel for EFL clubs and fans with invited U21 teams to play all group games away.

Clubs will be awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw, In the event of a drawn game after 90 minutes, a penalty shoot-out will be held with the victorious team gaining an extra point.

Top two clubs qualify from each group, while round two and round three remains regionalised with group winners at home against a second-placed team from a different qualifying group.

The quarter-finals will be drawn without geographical restrictions and if scores are level after 90 minutes, all knock-out rounds will be decided by penalties except for the final, which will have extra-time and then penalties

For invited teams such as Arsenal they must have six players from 11 in the starting line-up at U21 level as at June 30 in the preceding season.

The Gunners may only include two players on the teamsheet aged over 21, who have made 40 or more senior appearances – measured as at June 30 in the preceding season.

A senior appearance will be defined as having played in a professional first-team fixture. A non-playing substitute does not count.

Player eligibility for EFL clubs will see four qualifying outfield players from 10, with a club allowed to field any eligible goalkeeper in the competition.

A qualifying outfield player will be classed as anyone who started the previous match, any player who is in the top 10 players at the club in terms of making the most starting appearances in league and domestic cup competitions that season.

It can also be a player with 40 or more first-team appearances in their career or a player on loan from a Premier League Club or any EFL side,

No player can appear for two different teams in the competition