Gillingham have been drawn at home to Championship side Plymouth Argyle in the first round of the Carling Cup.

The opening round of the competition is regionalised, into north and south, with 70 Football League clubs competing for a second round place.

Newcastle and Middlesbrough, who were relegated from the Premier League, have byes for the first round as the highest-placed clubs from last season.

Premier League clubs enter at the second round stage but those competing in Europe, including holders Manchester United, will not be entering until the following round.

Gillingham haven’t progressed past the first round stage since 2005, when they beat Oxford, before narrowly losing 3-2 in the next round to Portsmouth.

Last season Mark Stimson’s side lost 1-0 to Colchester at Priestfield in the first round and in the previous two years they have been knocked out by Watford and Millwall.

Gillingham have twice been as far as the fourth round in the League Cup, in 1964 and 1997.

The Gills lost to Leicester in 64 and more recently in 1997, under the management of Tony Pulis, they lost 1-0 to Ipswich.

Charlton Athletic have been drawn away to Hereford.

The ties are scheduled to be played in the week commencing 10 August.

Gillingham’s League 1 fixtures will be announced tomorrow at 10am, with the highlights available here on KentOnline, and a full list will be published in the Medway Messenger newspaper on Friday.