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Notts County will take on Doncaster Rovers and Grimsby Town in the group stage of the EFL Trophy. The Magpies have been placed in Group G of the competition’s Northern section, and will also play one academy side. The 48 EFL clubs have been placed into pre-determined groups, with consideration given to ensure travel time is minimised for supporters and recovery time is maximised for players. Players from EFL clubs who are out on loan in the National League and below are now eligible to feature in the competition. Meanwhile, invited teams have been restricted to fielding two players over the age of 21 and more than 40 first-team appearances. Lincoln City are currently the holders of the trophy after beating Shrewsbury Town at Wembley last season. Group G Doncaster Rovers Grimsby Town Notts County Invited Club Invited Clubs 1. Everton U21 2. Leicester City U21 3. Manchester City U21 4. Middlesbrough U21 5. Newcastle United U21 6. Stoke City U21 7. West Bromwich Albion U21 8. Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 The EFL Trophy gets underway commencing the 3rd of September. Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat with hundreds of fellow Notts County fans. Fancy showcasing your brand or business on Pride of Nottingham? Click here to find out more about sponsorship and advertising opportunities with us.

Notts County fell to an unfortunate and controversial 3-1 defeat at Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night. The visitors took the lead through Richard Duffy, but strikes from James Coppinger and John Marquis either side of the break put Donny in the lead. Notts thought they had equalised when Haydn Hollis headed home in the second half, but the flag went up to rule the goal out, much to the bemusement of the travelling contingent. Andy Williams then sealed the win by adding a third for the hosts in stoppage time as Notts sent goalkeeper Adam Collin forward. The official Notts page on YouTube has posted the highlights - judge for yourself whether Hollis's disallowed header should have counted or not. Share your thoughts about the Doncaster match and these video highlights on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat.

Notts County boss Kevin Nolan has hit out at the match officials in charge of Tuesday night's League Two fixture at Doncaster Rovers, which ended in a 3-1 defeat for the Magpies. The visitors took the lead through Richard Duffy, but strikes from James Coppinger and John Marquis either side of the break put Donny in the lead. Notts thought they had equalised when Haydn Hollis headed home in the second half, but the flag went up to rule the goal out, much to the bemusement of the travelling contingent. Andy Williams added a third for the hosts in stoppage time as Notts sent goalkeeper Adam Collin forward, and Nolan was at a loss to explain why Hollis's goal was snuffed out. "I still don't know why the goal wasn't given," he told the Nottingham Post. "It's the most disappointed I have been with the officials since I've been in management. I thought they were poor from start to finish. "Why it was given for a free-kick I will never know. I've had a look at the video and I still don't see. I spoke to the referee briefly after the game and told him what I thought. "It was disappointing because I thought the lads were fantastic." Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat.

Notts County have stumbled to an unfortunate 3-1 defeat at the hands of Doncaster Rovers in Tuesday night's League Two clash at the Keepmoat Stadium. The Magpies took the lead in the 20th minute when Rovers failed to deal with a corner from the left and Richard Duffy reacted quickest to prod home from close range, his third goal of the campaign. However, the hosts equalised just before the break through James Coppinger, who was on hand to rifle Matty Blair's low cross across Adam Collin and into the far corner of the Notts net. And not long after the restart, Rovers were in the lead as Coppinger turned provider, whipping in a cross that Mathieu Baudry headed into the top corner. Just after the hour, Kevin Nolan's charges thought they had equalised when a Michael O'Connor corner was nodded home by Haydn Hollis, but the flag was inexplicably up to snuff out the goal. Notts launched everything they had in attack in second-half injury time as Collin went up for a corner, but Rovers managed to break and, with the goal unguarded, substitute Andy Williams guided the ball into an empty net to seal their win. Share your thoughts about the game and about this match report on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat.

Kevin Nolan has admitted that he is looking to get Notts County past the 50-point mark as quickly as possible. With just 10 games to go this season, the Magpies sit on 40 points, eight ahead of the bottom two in League Two. Nolan says he is taking it a game at a time, with a tricky visit to table-topping Doncaster Rovers awaiting on Tuesday night. But with Notts back on form, the manager is taking the opportunity to draw up more of a mid-term goal. "We have gone with the attitude that we will try to get to 50 points as quickly as possible and then we will reassess when we get there," he told the Nottingham Post. "But what we are looking at right now is three points and the next game. "My plan is just about Doncaster and what we can do to make sure we give our team the best chance of beating them. "Everyone says 50 is the safe mark in football but you just never know in football." Share your thoughts about this news story on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat.

Notts County have met Doncaster Rovers 55 times over the years, with the first fixture coming on the 13th December 1930. On that occasion, an FA Cup tie, the Magpies triumphed 1-0. Doncaster hold the most slender of advantages in the head to head - we've won 23 times, lost 24 times, and drawn 8 times. The club was founded in 1879 and turned professional in 1885. They have spent the majority of their playing history between the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system and are one of four clubs to win the Division 3/League Two title three times, the last being in 2004. Football League rules state that any team who wins a trophy three times can keep it. However, when Rovers tried to retain ownership of the actual Third Division trophy, the Football League claimed that Rovers could not keep the trophy because the league names had changed from Fourth to Third Division, and so they had not won that particular league three times. The team's mascot is a brown dog known as Donny Dog, who wears the red and white Rovers jersey. Before a scheduled appearance during the game against Huddersfield Town at the Galpharm Stadium on 4 March 2006, police prevented Andrew Liney from entering the stadium in costume, citing unspecified "police intelligence", and refused him permission to wear any part of the costume within 50 metres of the stadium. Mr Liney later received a full written apology for these unfounded allegations from the head of West Yorkshire Police. The mascot was next portrayed by Tracy Chandler and in June 2011, she was relieved from the position after she posed in her underwear for a Sunday newspaper. Later in the same week she was reinstated back as the club's mascot. Arguably the club's most famous fan is One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson. The 25-year-old had agreed to play in a charity game at the Keepmoat several years ago to raise money for the Bluebell Wood Charity and was offered a deal by Donny to join the club on non-contract terms after impressing in the game. Team news Doncaster striker Liam Mandeville has suffered an injury setback and will play no part against Notts. Mandeville had been hoping to return to the squad for Saturday's home win against Cheltenham after being ruled out since early February with an ankle injury, but strained a thigh in training on Friday. Boss Darren Ferguson has no new injury or suspension problems and could be tempted to name the same starting line-up. Midfielder Gary McSheffrey is likely to start on the bench again following his recent return from a long-term knee injury, while defender Joe Wright, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair and Lee McCullough (all knee) are still out. Notts have captain Michael O'Connor available after serving a two-match ban but Magpies manager Kevin Nolan must decide if his skipper goes straight back into midfield. Jon Stead and Curtis Thompson will need to prove their fitness after both players missed the home win over Hartlepool at the weekend. Striker Stead has a dead leg while midfielder Thompson has a slight hamstring niggle. Both will be given as long as possible to make themselves available but French defender Thierry Audel may not make the matchday squad again, despite being fit. Carl Dickinson, Alan Smith and Adam Campbell are among the other options at Nolan's disposal should he make changes. Share your thoughts about this match preview on Pride of Nottingham by signing up to the website, visiting the forum and joining in the chat.