ST Albans City step up their preparations for the new campaign with home friendly fixtures against Barnet and a Tottenham Hotspur XI next week. The Saints clash with Barnet at Clarence Park on Tuesday with a 7.45pm kick off and then face Spurs

ST Albans City step up their preparations for the new campaign with home friendly fixtures against Barnet and a Tottenham Hotspur XI next week.

The Saints clash with Barnet at Clarence Park on Tuesday with a 7.45pm kick off and then face Spurs on Wednesday with a 7.45pm kick off. The Spurs first team squad will be in Spain but manager Clive Allen is likely to include a cosmopolitan mix of talented young players.

French youth international defender Dorian Dervite and Czech Republic Under 21 star Tomas Pekhart are the top names in Allen's squad and if they are not called up for the training camp in Spain, both could feature at Clarence Park.

Pekhart, 19, was top scorer for Allen's team last season with five goals in 13 starts. Dervite had one full appearance for Spurs in November 2006 when he played alongside fellow reserve regular Andy Barcham against Port Vale in the League Cup. The centre back has since been troubled by a knee injury which has hindered his progress. Striker Barcham could feature at Clarence Park, having returned to Spurs from a loan spell at Leyton Orient.

England Under 19 international goalkeeper David Button is away in the Czech Republic for the European Championships and so Allen is set to call on either academy graduate Lee Butcher, Swedish youngster Oscar Jansson or new Italian signing Mirko Ranieri for the number one jersey.

Other players who could feature in the squad are Spanish youth international defender Yuri Berchiche, Norwegian striker Alex Olsen, full back Cian Hughton, the son of former Spurs star and current Newcastle United coach Chris Hughton, defender Troy Archibald-Henville, who made the bench for the first team twice last term, midfielder Jake Livermore, fresh from a successful loan spell with MK Dons in League Two last season, and young prospects Kyle Fraser-Allen, David Hutton and Danny Hutchins, who all recently earned the praise of coach Allen.

Academy players Dean Parrett, John Bostock, who made the switch from Crystal Palace this summer, and England youth internationals Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend and Adam Smith are also players to look out for.

Barnet kick off their pre-season campaign at Clarence Park where they won 4-0 last summer. The Bees then face Premier League outfit Arsenal on Saturday.