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Duncan Ferguson believes his testimonial against Villarreal will bring a competitive end to a tough but rewarding pre-season for Everton FC.

The Blues meet the La Liga side on Sunday in their final game of pre-season, although the team are also set to face Leeds United at Elland Road 24 hours earlier.

But the Scottish striker, now a first-team coach at Goodison Park, believes his testimonial will be a good run out – especially after a challenging pre-season.

“It’s going to be a competitive match,” he said. “Their season starts the week after, so does ours.

“It’s going to be a tough game, we’re looking to win it, we want to keep our momentum going. I’m sure they’re looking to win as well.

“It’s hard to gauge in pre-season but the lads have done pretty well. We’ve been competitive in most of the matches, so it’s looking good, the boys look up for it, so hopefully it all goes well for the coming season.”

The Blues kicked off their pre-season with a win over Swindon before facing Stoke and Arsenal in Singapore.

Their latest fixture saw Romelu Lukaku score a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at Hearts, with further Scottish opposition, Dundee, to follow on Tuesday night.

Ferguson has been impressed with the level of performance of the Blues so far this summer.

He added: “There haven’t been a team of 11 Italian waiters which we’ve played in our first game before!

“They have been tough matches. We had Singapore which was against two Premier League teams, and we had a good run out against Hearts. We’ve been competitive enough and done really well in them.”

The 43-year-old joined Everton on loan in 1994 before making the move permanent later that year.

It began a special relationship between the player and club, as well as its fans.

Ferguson paid tribute to the Blues support, both this summer and over the course of his career, saying: “It’s incredible. There were 1300 or something against Hearts, it’s amazing.

“And even those in Singapore, it’s unbelievable how they can afford it in these economic times. They seem to find a way, and that’s the Everton fans for you.

“The fans are unbelievable to me, they’re unbelievable to the club.

“It [the testimonial] is going to be emotional and special, and something I’m really looking forward to.”