Wanderers will face League Two sides Barrow and Fleetwood Town in the group stage of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
The full draw will be completed on Thursday afternoon when a fourth team – an U21 Premier League side – will be added to Group D in the northern section and home and away fixtures will be determined.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the knock-out stages.
Wanderers beat Barrow in the last-32 of the competition in November, 2002 on the way to lifting the trophy as Wembley winners.
Ian Evatt’s side, which last season reached the quarter-finals as holders, also beat Fleetwood in their only previous meeting in the competition – a 1-0 win in November, 2021.
Northern Section Groups and U21 club numbers for Thursday’s full draw:
Group A
Accrington Stanley
Stockport County
Tranmere Rovers
Group B
Port Vale
Salford City
Wrexham
Group C
Carlisle United
Morecambe
Wigan Athletic
Group D
Barrow
Bolton Wanderers
Fleetwood Town
Group E
Blackpool
Crewe Alexandra
Harrogate Town
Group F
Barnsley
Doncaster Rovers
Huddersfield Town
Group G
Chesterfield
Grimsby Town
Lincoln City
Group H
Bradford City
Mansfield Town
Rotherham United
U21 ball numbers:
1 Aston Villa U21
2 Everton U21
3 Liverpool U21
4 Manchester City U21
5 Manchester United U21
6 Newcastle United U21
7 Nottingham Forest U21
8 Wolverhampton Wanderers U21