THERE could be a strong Spanish flavour once again at the Reebok this summer.

Wanderers are lining up at least one pre-season friendly against opponents from Spain with Deportivo Alaves in the frame for a return visit.

"The only problem is that the Spanish teams looked so good last year, everybody from the chairman down was scared stiff that we weren't going to be good enough," Sam Allardyce joked.

The Wanderers' boss is putting the final touches to his pre-season programme, which will kick off with a short tour abroad before the build-up continues on home soil. A friendly at Burnley has already been scheduled for Wednesday, July 31.

"We'll play very few games at the Reebok, " the manager said. "But the ones we do have will be the Spanish element again. Spanish sides want to tour here because the football is so powerful.

"And it's good to bring sides like Alaves and Atletico Madrid to the Reebok."