A LETTER FROM PTUJ; CHRIS LEPKOWSKI'S SLOVENIA DIARY.

DAY SIX 'WELCOME to Croatia'. Or so I believe it said as we crossed the border on Saturday night for the final friendly against Varteks.

It was clear as we followed the police escort to Varazdin the country we had left behind is benefiting from EU funding where non-members like Croatia are not.

In Slovenia, the roads are new, the buildings and surroundings are beautifully maintained but this little pocket of Croatia is still living in a bygone decade. A stark reminder of the nation's troubled past.

Varteks will be a familiar name to Villa fans as it was the scene of their infamous exit from the UEFA Cup in 2001/02, back in the time Bosko Balaban would have been in his pomp had manager John Gregory actually bothered picking him. It could explain why there was a poster of the Croatian misfit on the front of a Villa programme from their game all those years ago.

Saturday's game itself you can read about in my match report.

But one man who won't want to remember it in a hurry is Scott Carson. Conceding a late chipped goal was bad enough but poor Gianni Zuiverloon was complaining of a sore toe after feeling the full weight of the Albion keeper's foot and studs at one point during the game.

The game was watched by BBC TV presenter Adrian Chiles, whose mother comes from Zagreb, and was on the same flight as Baggies fan and Mask-arade guru Dean Walton, who arranged the Tony Mowbray masks at Blackburn.

And a Roberto Di Matteo mask formed part of his hand luggage.

The plan was to get 20,000 of the masks printed for Albion's opening game of the season against Newcastle. The club were happy to endorse it and promote it but the plan fell through at the final hurdle - with the head coach saying he'd rather not.

The Italian claimed it would detract from the players, although he appreciated the gesture all the same. Watch out for Dean on Dragon's Den over the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Birmingham Mail snapper Tim Easthope was facing an eight-hour drive to join up with Blues on their pre-season tour in the Austrian mountains. From 35C in Slovenia to 13C in the Alps. No factor 30 needed there. Albion checked out of their hotel yesterday ready to catch their Ryanair flight back from Graz in Austria. But spare a thought for Dave Chance and masseur Simon Griffiths.

As you read this they are probably still rattling around somewhere in Europe with a van full of kit, goalposts, balls and other bits and bobs.