Peterborough United Under 18s will be keen to bounce back from last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Burnley on Saturday (12pm) as they face Crewe Alexandra on the road in the Professional Development League.
It was defeat at Burnley last time out for Jimmy Unwin’s side, but there were plenty of positives to take into Saturday’s clash.
Despite being in the ascendancy for large spells of the afternoon, the hosts ultimately claimed the victory in Lancashire, owing largely to a Zach Johnson brace.
Despite the result, the Under 18s have started the new term positively, which has seen them defeat Colchester United, QPR and Ipswich Town in this time, as well as pick up a well-deserved point at Swansea City.
Saturday’s hosts currently sit one position behind Posh, the Railwaymen played out a 6-3 defeat to Sheffield United in their most recent PDL encounter.
Both side’s will see Saturday as an opportunity to return to winning ways before a return to cup action next weekend – Posh welcome Luton Town to PE2 as they look to pick up a first victory in the competition after the spoils were shared at Mansfield Town on match-week one.
TEAM NEWS
Posh Under 18s will be without the services of defender Milan Kovaci who remains sidelined as he continues to nurse his respective injury.
THE OPPOSITION
Lee Bell’s side have won three of their opening eight games, including the 8-1 success over Colchester earlier this month, as well as victories over Ipswich Town and, most recently, Fleetwood Town.
The Railwaymen finished in a respectable sixth place last term, one spot below the season prior, to which Posh came third that year.
FROM THE MANAGER
“I always enjoy games against Crewe because I think they are one of the best developers of footballers in the country, and their philosophy aligns quite closely with ours and what we want to be like.
“They’ve been good this week, really honest with their clips and the feedback they have put on this. They’re an honest group – we’ve analysed and assessed the performance last time out so hopefully we can look for areas where we can develop and improved as we go on in the season.
“We always want to try and put together as many good performances together, and if you do that over the season, you will get points on the board. But for us, it’s important that the lads perform to the level that’s expected, to show that they can have the ball and play to our philosophy. It’s the risk and reward, you risk it a lot of the time in how we play, but the reward is massive,” Unwin said.
LIVE UPDATES
Updates of the game will be available on The Posh Academy X account, with post-match reaction also on Posh+.
VENUE
The fixture will take place at Alexandra Park, Crewe.