The visit of former European champions Nottingham Forest tops the bill for AFC Telford United’s pre-season fixture schedule.Colin Calderwood’s side, celebrating promotion to the Championship after three years in League One, will come to the New Bucks Head on Wednesday, July 23.

Telford also face League opposition on Friday, July 18 with Cheltenham Town – managed by former Wolves stalwart Keith Downing – coming to Shropshire.

The Bucks begin their pre-season preparations by travelling to Midland Alliance club Stratford Town to officially open the club’s new Knights Lane ground.

The other stand-out fixture on the programme is a trip to Hampshire on Saturday, July 26, to face this season’s FA Cup heroes Havant & Waterlooville, who reached the fourth round before falling 5-2 to Liverpool at Anfield.

“I like to have a god mixture of pre-season games so I’m very happy with this,” said boss Rob Smith.

“We’ve got two games against pro sides and a couple against teams below us so there’s a good variety there to test us.

“We’re delighted Forest have agreed to send a side and that’s one for our fans to really look forward to.

“We always like to try and get away for one weekend so Havant is an ideal game for us, and it will be a tough game as well because they’re a decent side.”

The Bucks will send a squad to Wellington Amateurs on July 15, and the fixture list is completed by a Shropshire Senior Cup semi-final at either Bridgnorth or Shifnal and – if successful – the final at Shrewsbury Town.

They also hope to line up one more home game against a professional side on Saturday, August 2.

Pre-season fixtures in full: Sat, July 12: Stratford Town (a); Tues, July 15: Wellington Amateurs (a); Fri, July 18: Cheltenham Town (h).

Weds, July 23: Forest (h); Sat, July 26: Havant & Waterlooville (a); Mon, July 28: Bridgnorth or Shifnal (a – SSC); Thurs, July 31: SSC Final (at Shrewsbury Town); Sat, August 2, TBA.

By Chris Hudson