The draw for the Bristol Street Motors Trophy group stage has been completed with the addition of top-flight under-21 teams.

Gillingham will host Crystal Palace under-21s during the group stage of the Trophy competition.

More: Gills drawn to face Championship opposition

Earlier this week the Gills were placed in Group D of the southern section along with Peterborough United and Stevenage.

Palace were added to the group as one of 16 invited Premier League sides.

The fixture dates have yet to be announced but the first of the three group stage matches is set to be played in early September.

Gillingham will play the Palace under-21s at Priestfield along with either Stevenage or Peterborough.

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.

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.