Watford have announced that they will play Ligue 1 side Lorient at Vicarage Road for their final pre-season match before the Premier League season begins.
For quite some time, it appeared that the Hornets were only going to be playing the three friendlies before the new Premier League season.
However, prior to their second friendly with Stevenage last night, they announced three friendlies, including the game with Lorient on August 6.
Three games added to pre-season schedule
Watford play Queens Park Rangers on July 30, but without any additional matches, they would have faced two whole weeks without a competitive match.
But the French club will provide a stern test the weekend before the new season gets underway, with the match set to kick-off at 3:00pm.
The Hornets opened their pre-season last Sunday with a 1-1 draw against non-league side Woking, but now Walter Mazzarri’s side have a full schedule.
Mazzarri claimed his first win as Watford manager last night with a 2-0 win over Stevenage, and the side were playing in the new 3-5-2 formation.
Lorient to visit Vicarage Road in August
Lorient, who are led by manager Sylvain Ripoll, finished 15th in Ligue 1 last season, and that was after they finished eighth two years off the bounce the previous seasons.
They are a club that have produced many a talent, including Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and France forward Andre-Pierre Gignac, who hit the post last in the game in the Euro 2016 final.
After clinching promotion to the top-flight, Lorient were relegated in 1999 by goal difference, but they bounced back up again in 2001.
They secured their first domestic trophy that season by winning the Coupe de France, while they also finished runners-up in the French League Cup.
Raphael Guerreiro, who has recently won the European Championships with Portugal, has recently departed Les Merlus for Borussia Dortmund.