FORMER Swindon Town boss Dennis Wise could have a hand in determining the club's fate in the Carabao Cup when he helps to conduct the first round draw on Friday morning.

Wise, fellow former England international Steve McManaman and former Premier League striker Louis Saha will help unveil the 35 opening round ties from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam at 10.45am British time on Friday.

The three former EFL Cup winners will join representatives from the EFL and competition partner Carabao Energy Drink as draws for the competition take place abroad for the second successive season, following events in Bangkok and Beijing last season.

Seventy EFL clubs feature in the new-look draw, which will see teams drawn into northern and southern sections, but with no seeding for higher-ranked sides as in previous seasons.

It means Town, who are ball number 31 in the southern section - could face the likes of Aston Villa, both Bristol clubs, old rivals Oxford, pre-season opponents West Brom or Championship giants Norwich and Queen's Park Rangers - whom they have faced in the last two years - in the opening round.

EFL chief executive, Shaun Harvey, said: “A principle aim of our partnership with Carabao has always been to promote the competition internationally, taking high-profile activities such as the competition draws overseas to support the EFL’s international growth strategy and raise awareness of the competition in Carabao’s key territories.

“There is no requirement for us to take draws overseas, but there is an absolute commitment to building the value of our competition outside the UK and the market in Vietnam should help the EFL and Carabao meet our shared ambitions.

“The Round One draw is always significant, mapping out the opening stages of a competition that continues to attract a large audience at home and abroad, with almost 1.5million people attending Carabao Cup matches last season and games shown across the world in over 150 regions.

“At the EFL’s recent 2018 Summer Conference, clubs voted to a number of rule changes in the Carabao Cup including the removal of extra-time which should help address team selection and additional fatigue issues that can sometimes be caused when midweek ties go beyond 90 minutes. Seeding arrangements have also been removed from the first two rounds which should make for some interesting early round draws.''

Carabao Cup south section numbers: 1 AFC Wimbledon, 2 Aston Villa, 3 Birmingham City, 4 Brentford, 5 Bristol City, 6 Bristol Rovers, 7 Cambridge United, 8 Charlton Athletic, 9 Cheltenham Town, 10 Colchester United, 11 Coventry City, 12 Crawley Town, 13 Exeter City, 14 Forest Green Rovers, 15 Gillingham, 16 Ipswich Town, 17 Luton Town, 18 Millwall, 19 Milton Keynes Dons, 20 Newport County, 21 Northampton Town, 22 Norwich City, 23 Oxford United, 24 Peterborough United, 25 Plymouth Argyle, 26 Portsmouth, 27 Queens Park Rangers, 28 Reading, 29 Southend United, 30 Stevenage, 31 SWINDON TOWN, 32 West Bromwich Albion, 33 Wycombe Wanderers, 34 Yeovil Town.