The Blues second string will not feature in this season’s Barclays Premier League reserve division but will still have a comprehensive programme of friendly and competitive games.

They kick off on Saturday 16 July at Altrincham (3pm) and then visit Stalybridge on 20 July (7.30pm).

Then it is a dash into Europe with a match in Spain on 23 July against Espanyol (6pm) followed by a trip to Holland to meet Nijmegen on 29 July (6pm).

As previously reported, City will feature in group one of the Nextgen Series alongside Barcelona, Celtic and Marseille.

The dates for the group games are as follows:

17 August:  Marseille v Celtic

31 August: Celtic v Barcelona

14 September: Celtic v Marseille

15 September: CITY v Barcelona

28 September: Barcelona v Marseille

5 October: Marseille v CITY

19 October: Marseille v Barcelona

20 October:  CITY v Celtic

2 November: Barcelona v CITY

9 November: Celtic v CITY

24 November: CITY v Marseille

*The first team’s revised fixture list following the selection of televised games will be revealed late next week.