DENNIS Wise wants to pit his wits against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in pre-season but a clash with Andrei Shevchenko and friends is by no means guaranteed.

Chief executive Mark Devlin has revealed that Town's new boss has been in touch with the Blues as he seeks to put together a competitive programme ahead of the 2006-7 campaign.

Devlin said: "Dennis tells me he has put in a call to Chelsea but obviously they are something of a global brand these days.

"More and more top-flight teams have these foreign tours in pre-season and organising matches is a lot more difficult than it used to be.

"Things can change quite quickly."

Not that Wise and Devlin are putting all their pre-season eggs in one basket.

Leeds United chairman Ken Bates, Wise's former chairman at Chelsea, has received a call while two top flight London clubs have also received a request to take on Town.

Devlin said: "We've also put the feelers out in terms of Tottenham Hotspur and Watford but again, no guarantees. We are aware that we didn't face any Football League teams in the build up to last season."

The Advertiser understands that Championship side Stoke City and League One outfit Brentford are also possibles' as pre-season opponents for Town.

Devlin said: "Hopefully we can start to see some games confirmed in the next seven days or so."