Colchester United learned this afternoon that West Ham U21 will compete as the invited team in Southern Group A of the Papa John's Trophy.
Ipswich Town and Gillingham are the other two sides in the group, as Colchester United look to get past the first stage of the competition since the 2019/20 season.
The last time Colchester United played against both Ipswich Town and Gillingham, they topped the group, but were knocked out eventually by Stevenage.
Colchester United took on West Ham in last season's competition, falling to a 1-0 defeat at the JCS in September.