BLACKBURN Rovers face a possible meeting with Kaiserslautern as part of their pre-season tour to Germany.
Rovers chief Graeme Souness will take his players to Germany for a 10-day training camp in a fortnight's time.
And the highlight of the trip could be a game with the Bundesliga side, who are also expected to take part in the SSV Reutlingen tournament.
It's the third time in four years that Rovers have chosen Germany as the venue for their pre-season training camp.
Last summer, Souness broke with tradition and whisked his players off to America for a prestigious friendly with DC United in Washington.
But that trip failed to live up to Souness's expectations and the Rovers boss has now decided to revert to a more tried and tested formula.
"Last year we got away from what we'd done in the previous three years, which was to stay at home for a week of hard grafting and then go to Germany where we work on sharpening up the players for the first week before playing some games towards the end of the second.
"We've had three good pre-seasons there in the past but then we changed it last season, which was a mistake on my part and we had a difficult year.
"I'm not putting our bad form solely down to that but you get a lot of superstitions in football and that's one of the reasons why we are going back to Germany this time.
"The facilities are also fantastic over there and it's an all-round good place to prepare.
"I always used to like going there as a player because the Germans are really passionate about their football."
Rovers will begin their tour with a friendly against TV Bopfingen 1861 on Saturday July 17.
Then on the following Tuesday, Rovers take part in the SSV Reutlingen tournament at the Stadion an der Kreuzeiche in Reutlingen, where they will play two 50 minute games on the same evening.
The top two sides then meet in a final on Friday July 23 at the Donaustadium in Ulm, where there will also be a third and fourth place play-off.
Midfield duo Barry Ferguson and David Thompson -- who both missed large chunks of last season due to serious knee injuries -- are expected to make their comebacks while the squad are in Germany.
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