BURNLEY could be locking horns with European Cup Winners' Cup finalists Rapid Vienna before August's big kick-off.

The Clarets are in line to claim a place in a premier pre-season tournament in Eastern Europe.

Burnley already look certain to tour Ireland in late July and early August.

Now plans are in the pipeline for the Turf Moor men to play in a four-day competition in Slovakia as they prepare for another Division Two campaign. That would include the likes of Rapid Vienna, Slovan Bratislava and Dukla Prague.

Manager Adrian Heath will confirm next week whether Burnley will take part and then the dates can be announced officially. He explained: "We are currently in negotiations for an extensive pre-season tour. "The Ireland trip is a lot more definite. We will certainly be going to Ireland at some stage. Hopefully, we will be able to play in the Slovakian tournament and travel to Ireland.

"The length of our stay in Ireland will be determined by whether we go to Slovakia or not."

"It is a very prestigious tournament, with some top-class opposition. In fact, just the sort of build-up we would be looking for.

"I want a really sharp pre-season tournament to build up the players' fitness levels."

Heath has already confirmed that the Clarets will not be taking part in the annual Lancashire Marsden Cup. The tour to Ireland is provisionally pencilled in for late July, early August.

Meanwhile, Heath was due to fly out to Spain tonight to begin a 48-hour scouting mission. Heath will watch TWO Spanish league games - one on Saturday evening and one on Sunday.

And, although he was keeping the identities of the targets close to his chest, he revealed: "One is an attacker and one is a midfielder. "The reason that I'm not saying very much about the players is that I don't want to alert other clubs.

"One of the players, though, is not a Spanish national. I am very hopeful of bringing at least one over to Burnley during the summer.

"Both my targets are due to play in the fixtures so, hopefully, I will get a good look at them."

Burnley will face York City and Adrian Randall next season after their 3-1 win at Brighton yesterday sent Carlisle United crashing back to the Third Division just a year after claiming the championship.

Burnley have earmarked Saturday, August 10 as the official opening day for Turf Moor's new all-seater stadium. The Clarets are working on lining up top European opposition for the fixture.

Reserve team defender Glen Davies - granted a free transfer by the Clarets this week - is set to join Hartlepool.

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