Gillingham will face the Bristol Street Motors Trophy defending champions Peterborough United and also Stevenage in this season’s competition

Gillingham will play two League 1 teams in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy group stage – and there’s a top-flight under-21 team to face too.

The Gills have been placed in Group D of the southern section for the EFL Trophy competition. The group will be completed with the addition of an invited Premier League side this Thursday.

Peterborough are the competition’s defending champions after beating Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley last season. They finished fourth in League 1, losing to Oxford United in the play-offs.

Stevenage ended their campaign in the third-tier sitting ninth, losing manager Steve Evans to Rotherham United towards the end of the campaign.

The BSM Trophy fixtures will commence in early September with the Gills facing a top-flight under-21 team at Priestfield.

The group will be completed by one of either Arsenal, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Leicester, Tottenham or West Ham’s academy sides.

Top two teams qualify for the knockout stages which remain regionalised under the quarter-finals. The Gills pick up £20,000 for participating in the Trophy and will earn an additional £10k for a group-stage win and £5k for a draw.

Gillingham were knocked out of last season’s competition at the group stage as they followed up a win over Leyton Orient with defeats to Fulham u21s and Portsmouth.

All BSM Trophy matches will be available to watch as part of Sky Sports’ new broadcast deal.

Gillingham’s league fixtures will be announced on Wednesday morning and the draw for the Carabao Cup first round takes place the following day. The new league season kicks off on Saturday, August 10.