SPURS XI manager Clive Allen is looking forward to the first pre-season action of the campaign at Clarence Park on Wednesday. Allen, who crashed in a record 49 goals in a season for Spurs in 1986/87, is expecting a testing run out for his young team.

SPURS XI manager Clive Allen is looking forward to the first pre-season action of the campaign at Clarence Park on Wednesday.

Allen, who crashed in a record 49 goals in a season for Spurs in 1986/87, is expecting a testing run out for his young team. He said: "Matches like this are always competitive wherever we go and play. The only thing we don't want is any really rash challenges where someone could get injured. We try to have a good standard of opposition and we know that the facility and surface at St Albans is always good which is a very important part of the criteria for the game.

"It is always our intention when we play, to play football the right way and we will look to entertain where we can. The lads know that and we will look to go out there in a very professional way.

"We have been back in training for two weeks now. The groundwork has been done in terms of conditioning and whatever training you do there is nothing to replace a competitive game. We value our pre-season games and the chance to play St Albans City is a good one to get us underway."

For the City squad it will be an exciting opportunity to pit themselves against players who are looking to make the breakthrough at the top level. Allen believes that the task for Spurs will be a different challenge to the reserve league fixtures his squad play during the season. He said: "The majority of our boys were playing Academy football last year and they have earned their professional contracts. It is good for them to face senior players who have played at a level that they are going to be strong.

"We definitely learn a lot from these games. It is a big test, certainly mentally, for the players when they go into the pre-season games and we look closely at how they face up to the challenges in-front of them."

Top young striker Tomas Pekhart will be missing from the squad after earning a call up to the first team training camp in Spain where he scored twice in a friendly run out this week. Prodigious young talent John Bostock, snapped up from Crystal Palace, has also been called up to Spain along with young goalkeeper Oscar Jansson and academy prospect Andros Townsend.

Midfielder Jake Livermore, a star performer for Allen last term, has joined Crewe Alexandra on loan and will not make the trip to Clarence Park.