Hatters will face a Premier League Academy side in the EFL Trophy

A statement on the EFL website said: “The EFL clubs have agreed, at their 2016 summer conference, to pilot a new format for the EFL Trophy as part of their ongoing commitment to creating more and better home grown players.

“The one season trial for season 2016/17 will include 64 teams made up of EFL League One and Two clubs, plus an additional 16 category 1 Premier League academy/under-21 sides.

“Central to the competition will be the introduction of a new group stage format with 16 regional groups of four teams.

“The top two teams will progress to the knockout stages of the competition with the final staged at Wembley Stadium in April 2017.”

At the AGM, EFL clubs also approved proposals aimed at tackling the under-representation of coaches and managers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

The new measures, which will take immediate effect, include the introduction of mandatory new recruitment practices for coaching positions in Academy football and a Voluntary Recruitment Code in first team football, which will be piloted by at least 10 clubs during 2016/17.

The clubs piloting the voluntary code during 2016/17 are.

Championship: Birmingham City, Fulham, Huddersfield Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

League One: Chesterfield, Coventry City, Millwall and Peterborough United.

League Two: Accrington Stanley and Carlisle United.