Morecambe to face Manchester United's youngsters in EFL Trophy group stages

Morecambe's win against Carlisle United last season was their first in six EFL Trophy matches

The Shrimps had already known they would meet Salford and Rochdale after three of the four teams per group were published on Monday.

As a result, the only missing detail was the identity of the Category One Academy side, which was confirmed as the Red Devils following the draw this afternoon.

The first set of matches are due to take place on September 8-9, the midweek before the new League Two season starts, with the other matchdays being October 6-7 and November 10-11.

Morecambe will be looking for a change in fortune when they take part in this season’s tournament.

Since the competition’s rebrand in 2016, enabling Academy sides to enter, they have only reached the knockout stages once.

That came in the inaugural season, 2016/17, when they progressed from a group including Bury, Bradford City and Stoke City but lost on penalties in the next round to Scunthorpe United.

The following three seasons all brought group stage exits with seven defeats in the nine matches played.