Middlesbrough have confirmed that their first pre-season friendly of the summer will be against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Aitor Karanka’s side earned promotion to Premier League this season, while Villa suffered a dismal campaign which saw them relegated from the top flight.

The match will take place on July 30, with kick-off at 3pm, tickets are expected to be priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions but further information will be available closer to the fixture.

Villa still to appoint new manager following Garde departure

Villa are still yet to appoint a permanent manager following the dismissal of Remi Garde at the end of March - assistant Eric Black was left to take charge until the end of the season.

Former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo is expected to be announced as the new manager of the Midlands club in the next few days, but that could still change at any moment.

The last time Boro played at Villa Park was November 2008, when they won 2-1 courtesy of two goals from Tuncay Sanli.  

More friendlies expected

The Teessiders are expected to arrange at least three more friendlies before the new campaign kicks off in August.

Last year Karanka took his side to York before they flew out to Marbella for a pre-season training camp.   

When they returned, Boro made trips to Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley before playing Getafe at the Riverside.

Despite Fischer move, attracting targets could prove difficult

Boro may be hoping to add some more new arrivals before the match after agreeing a deal to sign 21-year-old Danish international Viktor Fischer last week.

However that may prove difficult due to players being on holiday and the up and coming European Championships, which take place from June 10 until July 10.

No members of the current Boro squad are set to be involved in the tournament in France which kicks-off in just over a weeks’ time.

Nevertheless after winning promotion to the top flight Boro will be hunting for higher calibre players ahead of the upcoming season, and will no doubt have scouts keeping an eye on events across the channel.