James Collins’ side are looking to make it into the knockout stages of the EFL competition for the third successive season as one of 16 invited Academy teams to join the 48 clubs in League One and League Two who will make up the competition this year.
Wolves were ball number eight in the northern section of the draw and were placed in Group C during Thursday afternoon’s draw, pitting the development team up against the Latics, the Shrews and Crewe - the club Collins spent the whole of his career at before a switch to Wolves last year.
The under-21s will travel away to all three teams during the course of the 2021/22 season as the four teams in the group play each other once in the first round of the tournament, with the top two teams from each group making it into round two.
Last season, Wolves lost to Oldham Athletic in their first group clash before a penalty shootout victory over Bradford City and a win away at Doncaster Rovers saw Collins’ side take on Port Vale in the last 32.
However, Wolves’ campaign came to an end in the second round at Vale Park, with Taylor Perry’s opener being cancelled out before half-time, before a late winner from the Staffordshire side secured their place in the third round.
Fixture details for the 2021/22 Papa John’s Trophy will be confirmed in due course.
