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EFL Cup draw farce: Charlton drawn against Exeter AND Cheltenham, EFL apology
THE EFL CUP draw for the first round has been made in Bangkok and thrown out some interesting ties, which Charlton initially down to pay TWICE.
Charlton will play Exeter away in the first round of the EFL Cup
The EFL Cup, sponsored by Carabao this season, will kick off on the week of Monday 7 August.
But the first round draw was made today in Bangkok, Thailand and Charlton were drawn against Exeter City.
But initially they were also handed a tie with Cheltenham.
That would have meant a quick turnaround for Karl Robinson's Latics, with a 213-mile trip between the Valley and Exeter's St James Park.
But the EFL swiftly corrected the mistake to confirm Oxford United will in fact be playing Cheltenham.
The EFL apologised for the errors, stating: "The EFL would like to apologise for a number of third party technical issues that affected coverage of this afternoon’s Carabao Cup Round One draw in Bangkok.
"There were inaccuracies – as a result of human error - in the live graphics output that resulted in confusion and incorrect ties being displayed on screen. In addition, some users did experience difficulties in accessing the stream on certain external platforms. Both issues are currently under investigation.
"The EFL can confirm that the draw was not compromised in any way and all clubs have received confirmation of their round one ties."
Clubs from the Championship, League One and League Two enter at this stage, with the tournament split between northern and southern teams.
The mistake showed Charlton playing TWICE in the first round
Only Hull and Middlesbrough, who finished 19th and 18th in the Premier League last season, avoid playing in this round with the rest of the Championship teams.
Premier League sides not playing in Europe next season enter in round two, and the rest in round three.
There are 34 teams in the northern half of the draw, with 17 seeds.
In the southern half there are 36 teams, of which 18 are seeded.
Check out the full EFL CUP first-round draw below…
Manchester United won the EFL Cup last season
EFL CUP FIRST ROUND DRAW
NORTHERN SECTION
Coventry City v Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham Forest v Shrewsbury Town
Bradford City v Doncaster Rovers
Mansfield Town v Rochdale
Grimsby Town v Derby County
Barnsley v Morecambe
Crewe Alexandra v Bolton Wanderers
Oldham Athletic v Burton Albion
Wigan Athletic v Blackpool
Bury v Sunderland
Sheffield Wednesday v Chesterfield
Accrington Stanley v Preston North End
Fleetwood Town v Carlisle United
Sheffield United v Walsall
Scunthorpe United v Notts County
Rotherham United v Lincoln City
Leeds United v Port Vale
Manchester United celebrate EFL Cup win
SOUTHERN SECTION
Birmingham City v Crawley Town
Exeter City v Charlton Athletic
QPR v Northampton Town
Newport County v Southend United
Bristol City v Plymouth Argyle
Cardiff City v Portsmouth
Millwall v Stevenage
Oxford United v Cheltenham
AFC Wimbledon v Brentford
Norwich City v Swindon Town
Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United
Peterborough United v Barnet
Wycombe Wanderers v Fulham
Colchester United v Aston Villa
Wolves v Yeovil Town
Reading v Gillingham
Forest Green Rovers v MK Dons
Luton Town v Ipswich Town
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