Carling Cup Draw Tomorrow

City, who haven't progressed beyond the first round in the last four years, are the 8th seed in the northern half, based on last season's final league positions. Each tie drawn will feature one seeded team and one unseeded team, both from the same regional half.

City could, therefore, be drawn against South Bank rivals Grimsby or Lincoln, who are both in the unseeded section of the northern half. League One sides Port Vale, Chesterfield, Tranmere, Blackpool, Rotherham and Carlisle, and League Two sides Hartlepool, Darlington, Wrexham, Rochdale, Chester, Mansfield, Macclesfield, Bury, Stockport and Accrington Stanley are the other 16 unseeded northern teams.

Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, Scunthorpe, Bradford, Doncaster, Huddersfield and Barnsley join City in the seeded northern section, so can't be drawn against each other. The others are Sunderland, Preston, Wolves, Stoke, Leicester, Burnley, Derby, Crewe, Nottingham Forest and Oldham.

City also cannot be drawn against ex-manager Peter Taylor's club Crystal Palace, as they are, naturally, in the southern section.

The draw will be announced at 12 noon tomorrow (Wednesday). First round matches have been played during the third week of the season for the last two years.

Incidentally, the league fixture list will be released on Thursday at 10am.