Wigan Athletic U18 vs Peterborough U18

Posh Under 18s return to the road this Saturday (11am) making the trip north to face Wigan Athletic in the Professional Development League.

Peterborough United Under 18s take on Wigan Athletic at Christopher Park on Saturday (11am), looking to bounce back from the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.

Our youngsters were beaten 2-1 thanks to goals from Liam Clayton and Kleven De Oliviera after Andre Changunda had given Posh the lead.

Saturday’s hosts Wigan ended the month in a surprising defeat as Mark Maddock’s side lost out by the odd goal at Barnsley.

TEAM NEWS

Max Beech is unavailable as his minutes continue to be managed, but will be available on Tuesday after a spell on the sidelines.

Luke Gilbert returns from a loan spell with Spalding United, and is available for selection, while Milan Kovaci misses out as expected.

THE OPPOSITION

Currently sat third in the northern section, Wigan Athletic have seen 11 victories, two draws and nine defeats over the course of the campaign. The Latics will look to bounce back from the defeat at Barnsley last time out, a result which ended a run of four wins on the trot.

FROM THE MANAGER

“We’re really looking forward to the game; it will be a tough game against a really good side, but we’ll head up in positive spirits as usual looking for a positive result. Everyone’s raring to go so hopefully we can grind a result which is nothing less than the boy’s efforts deserve,” Professional Development Phase (Under 18s) Lead Coach Jimmy Unwin said.

LIVE UPDATES

Updates of the game will be available on The Posh Academy X account.

VENUE

The fixture will take place at Christopher Park.

Posh Under 18s suffered a 6-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic in the Professional Development League on Saturday afternoon.

John-Paul Cavanagh led the way for a handful of goals in WN6, with Harrison Bettoni (2), Lucas Hagan, Cole Simms and Christy Edwards all adding to the score-sheet on a successful afternoon for the hosts.

The task ahead loomed large, given the hosts riding high in the league, and fresh off a victory over Everton at the Bramley Moore-Dock Stadium – the inaugural match to be played at the Blues’ new stadium.

It didn’t take long for the hosts to make their mark; Bettoni stood up a ball to the danger area, working its way back out to CAVANAGH on the edge of the penalty area - who picked out the bottom corner.

Wigan showed no signs of letting up, as nine minutes later BETTONI was on hand to double the hosts’ advantage. Christy Edwards broke quickly from a Posh corner, delivering an inch-perfect ball to Bettoni at the far post who tapped home past Ben Westcott.

The hosts found a third on 31 minutes, after Reece Greenhalgh linked up with Simms, feeding BETTONI, who made no mistake with the finish.

Eight minutes from the break, the ‘Tics found the net once more. This time Bettoni was the architect, where his clipped ball was met by HAGAN, who arrived on cue to add a fourth – and leave Posh with it all to do in the second period.

The hosts continued their rout on 61 minutes – owing to Bettoni once more – who picked out SIMMS, stabbing the ball home for a fifth.

EDWARDS added his name to the act ten minutes onwards, latching onto Reece Greenhalgh’s ball from deep before sending his strike beyond Westcott – completing the scoring.

Attentions will now turn to Tuesday afternoon (1pm), where our youngsters face Cheltenham Town for a place in the PDL Cup Final.

Posh: Westcott, Gbajumo (sub Fitzpatrick 70min), Gibert (sub Changunda 46min), Claxton, Mendonca, Holley, Unwin (sub Fox 46min), McWilliams-Marcano (sub Sykut 70min), Shofowoke, Trialist A. Unused sub: Davies.

Half-time: Wigan Athletic Under 18s 4-0 Posh Under 18s
Full-time: Wigan Athletic Under 18s 6-0 Posh Under 18s

Timeline

Match stats

Matchday live