Ipswich Town will face Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Interwetten Cup next month.

The mini pre-season tournament will be hosted by German third-tier club SV Meppen, at the Hansch-Arena, on Sunday, July 14.

Town will face Fortuna in a 45 minute semi-final (2pm), with Meppen then playing Dutch side FC Utrecht in another 45 minute semi-final (3pm).

The losing teams will meet in a 4pm third-place play-off, while the final will kick-off at 5pm.

This will round off a 12-day trip for the Blues, Paul Lambert taking his squad to a remote training base from July 4-15. Town will start their time away by facing SC Paderborn in a friendly on Saturday, July 6 (3pm).

The hosts

Meppen is a small town, with a similar size population to Bury St Edmunds, located near the Dutch border.

It's equidistant from three major airports, with Amsterdamn, Dusseldorf and Bremen all around a two-hour drive away.

SV Meppen finished 13th in 3. Liga last season. The Hansch-Arena has a capacity of 13,696.

Friends from Fortuna

Fortuna Dusseldorf recently finished 10th in their first season back in the Bundesliga.

MORE: German fans visit Ipswich to cheer on the Blues - and to donate to Kevin Beattie statue fund

Ipswich and Fortuna have formed a close bond in recent years, with both sets of supporters making regular trips to the other. Just last month, 130 Blues fans travelled to watch Fortuna against Hannover 96.

MORE: The back story behind Fortuna and Town's special bond

Town lost 4-3 when facing Fortuna in a well-attended, entertaining 2015 friendly in Dusseldorf.

FC Utrecht

Managed by former Holland boss Dick Advocaat. Finished 6th in the Eredivisie last season. Town hosted them at Portman Road in a 2015 friendly, drawing 1-1.

TOWN'S 2019 FRIENDLIES

Sat, July 6 - SC Paderborn (in Steinhagen) 3pm

Sun, July 14 - Interwetten Cup (in Meppen) 2pm

Fri, July 19 - Colchester Utd (a) 7.30pm

Tues, July 23 - Notts County (a) 7pm

Sat, July 27 - Cambridge Utd (a) 1pm

OTHER KEY DATES

Thurs, June 20 - Fixture release date (9am)

Thurs, July 25 - Open Day at Portman Road

Fri/Sta, Aug 2/3 - League One opener

w/c Aug 12 - Carabao Cup round one

Mon, Sept 2 - Transfer window deadline

w/c Sept 2 - EFL Trophy round one