Liam Boyce is relishing the chance to test himself against Premier League opposition before making his Championship debut for Burton Albion.
The Northern Ireland international featured in the first four of Albion's pre-season friendlies this summer against Kidsgrove Athletic, Mickleover Sports, Solihull Moors and AFC Wimbledon.
He is likely to be back into the team for tomorrow's clash with West Bromwich Albion (7.45pm) - the first of two home friendlies for Albion ahead of their league curtain-raiser against Cardiff City on August 5.
Leicester City are the other top-flight visitors to the Pirelli, coming on August 1 to end the Brewers' pre-season preparations.
Those two outings will be used by Nigel Clough to further push his players and fine-tune their preparations in time for the start of the new season. They may well offer some insight into the XI that will start against the Bluebirds in 11 days' time.
Transfer talk
For Boyce - a club-record signing from Ross County last month - the games against the Baggies and the Premier League champions of 2015/16 will offer him the opportunity to take in the quality on offer in England's top flight and test himself against it.
And the 26-year-old says his performances in those friendlies could offer some barometer of where he is at ahead of his first season in the Championship.
Asked if he was looking forward to taking those first steps into the second tier, he said: "Definitely - even the friendlies that are coming up in the next week are massive.
"So I'm looking forward to that, and testing myself against those sorts of teams, even though it's not really as competitive as it will be (in the Championship).
"It's just to see how I'm doing, and then I'll take that into the league.
"I'll be buzzing, and I can't wait to see how I'll do."
