CITY have confirmed they will be heading to Spain as part of their pre-season.

The squad will spend a few days of warm weather training in Alicante in early July.

They will fly out after the first friendly, although there are no plans to play a game over there.

Chief executive Ryan Sparks said the list of friendlies will be announced shortly – but some of the intended opposition had still been involved in play-off action.

He said: “There will be a bit of a refresh with some different teams, some different away trips and some different local ones as well.

“It will be a pre-season programme that I believe will help the guys prepare for what will be an early start to the season in July.”

The new campaign kicks off on Saturday, July 30 – a week earlier than usual because of the World Cup taking place mid-season.