The Hatters have been handed a trip to face Sky Bet Championship club West Bromwich Albion in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
The draw took place in the Independence Palace in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam this morning, with former winners of the competition Steve McManaman, Dennis Wise and Louis Saha pulling the balls out of the hat.
It will be the third season in a row that Nathan Jones has led his team into battle with one of the biggest clubs from the second tier at this stage of the competition, and his fourth successive Carabao Cup tie against Championship opposition with Aston Villa, Leeds and Ipswich having visited Kenilworth Road during his tenure so far.
Comparisons can be drawn to the 2016-17 campaign when the Town were paired with Villa immediately after their relegation from the Premier League – a fate that has befallen their West Midlands neighbours West Brom in recent weeks - and came from a goal down to win 3-1.
This time, however, the Hatters will travel to the Hawthorns to take on Darren Moore’s Baggies, with the tie scheduled to take place in the week commencing August 13th – the second week of the 2018-19 season.
Exact fixture details and ticket information will be available here on lutontown.co.uk and the club's social media channels in due course.
There are rule changes in the Carabao Cup for the coming season, including the removal of extra-time with a penalty shoot-out taking place immediately aftre 90 minutes should the scores be level.
In that event, the format of the penalty competition will revert to the traditional ABAB format, as opposed to the ABBA concept that was trialled in EFL competitions last term.
The full Round One draw, which is regionalised to minimise travelling time for supporters, is as follows...
|
Rotherham United |
V |
Wigan Athletic |
|
Tranmere Rovers |
V |
Walsall |
|
Crewe Alexandra |
V |
Fleetwood Town |
|
Scunthorpe United |
V |
Doncaster Rovers |
|
Macclesfield Town |
V |
Bradford City |
|
Grimsby Town |
V |
Rochdale |
|
Sheffield United |
V |
Hull City |
|
Nottingham Forest |
V |
Bury |
|
Middlesbrough |
V |
Notts County |
|
Sunderland |
V |
Sheffield Wednesday |
|
Leeds United |
V |
Bolton Wanderers |
|
Carlisle United |
V |
Blackburn Rovers |
|
Mansfield Town |
V |
Accrington Stanley |
|
Port Vale |
V |
Lincoln City |
|
Preston North End |
V |
Morecambe |
|
Oldham Athletic |
V |
Derby County |
|
Shrewsbury Town |
V |
Burton Albion |
|
Blackpool |
V |
Barnsley |
|
Millwall |
V |
Gillingham |
|
Portsmouth |
V |
AFC Wimbledon |
|
Cheltenham Town |
V |
Colchester United |
|
Yeovil Town |
V |
Aston Villa |
|
Southend United |
V |
Brentford |
|
Reading |
V |
Birmingham City |
|
Wycombe Wanderers |
V |
Northampton Town |
|
Swindon Town |
V |
Forest Green Rovers |
|
Norwich City |
V |
Stevenage |
|
Exeter City |
V |
Ipswich Town |
|
Milton Keynes Dons |
V |
Charlton Athletic |
|
West Bromwich Albion |
V |
Luton Town |
|
Bristol Rovers |
V |
Crawley Town |
|
Bristol City |
V |
Plymouth Argyle |
|
Cambridge United |
V |
Newport County |
|
Queens Park Rangers |
V |
Peterborough United |
|
Oxford United |
V |
Coventry City |
