Norwich City’s EFL Cup first round opponent will be revealed next week, in what will be the Canaries’ opening competitive game of the new season on September 5.

The Canaries will be without a host of their international contingent just a week before the scheduled Championship kick-off, but City’s squad depth is set to be tested following a sizeable summer influx of new faces.

The Football League (EFL) also confirmed on Thursday lunchtime the 2020/21 league fixtures will be released at 9am on Friday, August 21, along with a series of other key early league and cup dates.

The EFL Cup first round draw will take place on Sky Sports News on Tuesday, August 18 (time TBC) with Norwich potentially able to draw rivals Ipswich Town who will not be seeded in the regionalised southern section.

The Championship season, meanwhile, will include 13 midweek match fixtures to ensure the regular league campaign can conclude on the weekend of May 8/9 2021. The play-off finals are scheduled for Wembley stadium over the Bank Holiday weekend of May 29 to May 31 2021.

FA Cup replays will also be scrapped in 2020/21 in a bid to further ease fixture congestion with prize money expected to be halved from 2019/20 because of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

City have accepted an invite to enter a development squad into the EFL Trophy, which brings 16 Category One ranked academies into competition against clubs from Leagues One and Two.

The group stage draw for the EFL Trophy will take place on Tuesday August 18 at 1.30pm on TalkSPORT 2.