Gillingham will face Tottenham’s youngsters in this season’s Checkatrade Trophy.

Spurs were one of 16 teams invited into this year’s competition to join the 48 League 1 and 2 sides.

The Premier League side’s development squad will compete in Group A of the southern section, along with the Gills, Crawley Town and Portsmouth.

Gillingham already knew who their Football League opponents would be and one of the invited teams was drawn into each group, eight in the north and eight in the south, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Wednesday.

Arsenal and Chelsea will also feature in the Trophy this season, with those top flight teams restricted to fielding only two players over the age of 21 and more than 40 first-team appearances, giving a chance for their club's youngsters to face competitive action.

Gillingham won all three of their group matches last season, beating Southend, Colchester and Reading, before losing to Oxford United in round two.

A rule change for this season’s competition allows Football League clubs to include players in their teams who are out on loan at National League sides, or below.

Spurs' youngsters were knocked out at the group stage last season.

John McDermott, their head of coaching and player development, said: “There were a huge amount of positives to come out of the competition last season – playing against senior players, playing in front of a crowd – and we move away from age group football which is massive when the players are getting to 18, 19, 20 years of age.

“Last season, a significant group of our fans travelled to these matches and our players can therefore see what it means to play for Tottenham and the passion that the fans have - and with that comes the responsibility of playing for the Club and for those fans. It's a great experience for them.”

Gillingham have faced Tottenham's senior side in the League Cup competition twice, losing 4-2 (at Priestfield) and 5-0 (at White Hart Lane), the most recent defeat coming in September 2016.

Lincoln City won the competition last season, beating League 1 Shrewsbury in a Wembley final. This year's final will take place on Sunday, March 31.

Exact dates for Gills' matches will be confirmed at the end of the month but a provisional schedule has been published.

Steve Lovell's men will travel to Portsmouth for their opening game (week commencing September 3) and then host Tottenham under-21s on week commencing October 8 and welcome Crawley to the Medway Priestfield Stadium the following month (w/c November 12).