The English Football League (EFL) have acknowledged an error they made during Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup third round draw.
The blunder saw Newcastle draw Manchester City at home rather than Fulham away.
With the ball numbers usually handed out in alphabetical order, Newcastle should have gotten the No 19, rather than No 20, with Norwich inexplicably taking No 19 despite coming after the Magpies in the alphabet.
The Canaries were handed a more favourable trip to Fulham, although the Championship outfit will still be hard-pressed to progress.
According to Mail Sport, the EFL have since acknowledged the mistake, although a spokesperson stated that guidelines do not state that numbers must be given on the basis of alphabetical order, and as such the competition’s integrity has not been hampered.