The draw for the group stage of the League Cup, now sponsored by Viaplay, will take place on Thursday.
Motherwell were excused this early part of the competition last season as the Europa Conference League took precedence. Unfortunately the loss to Sligo Rovers limited our involvement to the second qualifying round.
Some argue that the four League Cup group games provide much better preparation for the start of the SPFL Premiership.
The draw will be shown on Viaplay Sport at 1 pm on Thursday and it will produce eight sections of five teams. There will be five match days for this stage though each team will be involved in four; two at home and two on the road.
Motherwell will be in the top seeds' pot and if that status is to be carried into the knockout stage they will have to be one of the top three group winners. The other five seeded teams in stage two will be those in Uefa competitions.
Motherwell's first and only League Cup triumph (1950/51)
Last season’s campaign delivered two 4-0 results. A Kevin van Veen hat-trick and a Devine own goal against Inverness set up a quarter final at Parkhead where we left the competition after a heavy loss.
The diary dates are -
Group stage
MD1: Weekend of July 15/16
MD2: Midweek of July 18/19
MD3: Weekend of July 22/23
MD4: Midweek of July 25/26
MD5: Weekend of July 29/30
Second round
Weekend of August 19/20
Quarter-finals
Midweek of September 26-28
Semi-finals
Weekend of November 4/5
Final
Sunday December 17.