Neilson eagerly awaits Parma and Gabala tests

Neilson played 45 minutes against the Dutch masters in a 4-0 defeat at Kenilworth Road back in July 2004, who had the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Steven Pienaar in their side.

The Hatters number two is now keen to see how Luton deal with the Serie A side.

He said: “I remember years ago when I played against Ajax and it was a completely different level.

“It was a real experience playing against players of that quality.

“It’s a great coup we’ve got there. We are really looking forward to it.

“It excites the players and fans and coaches and managers as well.

“It’s a different way of football and a different style.

“It will be interesting to see how we play and cope with it.

“The pitch is now looking really good too and was re-seeded last week.”

Parma are due to come to Town on Tuesday, August 2, kick-off at 7.45pm, while Luton have also arranged to play Azerbaijan Premier League side Gabala, managed by Arsenal legend Tony Adams, on Wednesday, July 27.

Neilson said: “They are good games for us. These matches are the high profile games that fans get excited over.

“They’ve got good players and play good football like we want to play ourselves.”

On Gabala, he continued: “We’ve looked on their website to see what players they’ve got.

“Being so close to Russia, players from there are normally very good, strong and quick.

“It’s probably just as exciting as the Parma game.”

More pre-season fixtures are set be added, with Neilson adding: “We’ve got to get around and get the nitty-gritty games that get us ready for next season.

“We are looking to get a figure of around eight games and that should have us firing on all cylinders ready for the season starting on August 13.”