BLACKBURN Rovers will put the finishing touches to their pre-season preparations with a mouthwatering friendly against Lazio in August.

Ewood chief executive John Williams had promised to arrange a game against a top European side as part of Rovers' preparations for the UEFA Cup.

And I can reveal Roberto Mancini has agreed to bring his Italian giants to Ewood on Friday August 9 (kick-off 8pm) as part of a mini two-match tour of England.

"After playing Barcelona in a friendly last summer it was always going to be very difficult to find someone of a similar stature," said Wiliams.

"But we feel there's a magical ring to Lazio as well and I'm sure our fans will relish the thought of seeing them play at Ewood later this summer.

"It's the same contact who arranged the game against Barcelona who has set this one up as well.

"We had a number of irons in the fire but we felt Lazio was a really attractive fixture and we were really happy with the way things were arranged last year, so it seemed the ideal thing to do."

Lazio, who won the Italian league and cup double under Sven Goran Eriksson two seasons ago, are widely regarded as one of the biggest club sides in the world.

And, although they finished a disappointing sixth by their standards in Serie A this season, they still boast a star-studded squad packed with top internationals including former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam, World-Cup bound Argentinians Diego Simeone and Caludio Lopez and Italian duo Dino Baggio and Simone Inzaghi.

It's the third time in recent seasons that Rovers have managed to attract a top continental side to Ewood for a friendly following prestigious games against PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona.

And manager Graeme Souness will use the match as a pivotal part of his preparations for Rovers' UEFA Cup campaign which is due to get underway in September.