PREMIERSHIP big guns Chelsea are planning to use their pre-season trip to Burnley as a dry-run for their top flight campaign in the North-West.

Claudio Ranieri's side will play at Turf Moor on Saturday, August 4, just two weeks before they start their assault on the Premiership.

And coach Gwyn Williams confirmed that the trip will form a key part of their preparation.

He said: "We're going to Tuscany to lock ourselves away and train three times a day then come back and play games against Leyton Orient and QPR and then go up to see Uncle Stan and Uncle Sam. They will be good games for us.

"We will be going up to Blackburn and Bolton in the Premiership so we will use the same hotel for the three fixtures up there and get into that routine.

"That's the idea behind the one at Burnley and it's also a step up in opposition. They finished seventh last season, half a place out of the top six.

"They went up with Ian Wright the season before and then got on without him and had a good season."

The game will also mean a reunion with Clarets boss Stan Ternent, who coached at Stamford Bridge 10 years ago.

"When he was here Stan liked people who worked hard and got on with it but then he wanted to go back up north and he's done well at Bury and Burnley and moved them both up. It will be interesting to go back to Burnley," Williams added.

Recent big-money buy Frank Lampard could make one of his first appearances for Chelsea as Burnley put the finishing touches to their own pre-season programme with the game which comes just a week before they launch their Nationwide League campaign.

The high-profile fixture, which replaces a scheduled trip to Shrewsbury Town for the first-team, completes Burnley's build-up which will now see them play three times at Turf Moor in the space of five days following their return from the Isle of Man tournament.

Ternent's side also face Premiership opposition on Tuesday, July 31 when they play Everton and two nights later they take on Huddersfield Town.

However, it is the visit of Chelsea (kick-off 2.30) which now takes pride of place in the Clarets' pre-season programme.

The Blues, who qualified for the Uefa Cup after finishing sixth in the Premiership last season, were today set to complete the sale of Denis Wise to Leicester City and they have also sold Gustavo Poyet to London rivals Spurs.

But they are still likely to field a side packed with world-class players in the shape of England midfielder Lampard, who last week signed from West Ham for £11 million, prolific striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Gianfranco Zola, Marcel Desailly, Mario Stanic and possibly French international Emmanuel Petit, who Ranieri is trying to bring back to English football from Barcelona.

Prices for the game will be £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s and over-65s. Admission will be the same for the Everton fixture but prices for the visit of Lou Macari's Huddersfield will be reduced to £7 for adults and £3 for under-16s and over-65s.

The Clarets are holding their annual sponsors' evening at Turf Moor tonight to outline their future sponsorship and commercial plans for current and potential backers. Clarets to face Blues stars