A look ahead to Tuesday night's first group fixture in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy at Gillingham (7pm)
Peterborough United begin their defence of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy with the first group phase fixture of the competition on Tuesday night as Sky Bet League Two side Gillingham host Posh at Priestfield (7pm).
Stevenage and Crystal Palace Under 21s are the other two teams within the group as Darren Ferguson's men look to make a positive start to this year's competition.
Posh go into the game on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Wrexham, while the Gills were 1-0 winners over Chesterfield last time out.
TEAM NEWS
Posh have three players away on international duty with Hector Kyprianou, Sam Curtis and George Nevett all unavailable. Kyprianou has linked up with Cyprus ahead of the UEFA Nations League double-header, Curtis is in the Republic of Ireland Under 21 squad while Nevett has been included in the Welsh under 19 squad.
Boss Darren Ferguson confirmed that Nick Bilokapic will start between the sticks, while Jadel Katongo, who returned on deadline day, will get at least an hour. Fellow new signing Bradley Ihionvien is also in the squad. Rio Adebisi and Ryan De Havilland are both in the treatment room.
Jacob Wakeling is currently on-loan at the Gills from Posh but is unable to play as part of the terms of the agreement.
ONE TO WATCH
George Lapslie
The former Charlton Athletic midfield man joined the Gills in January of 2023 after leaving Mansfield Town. The 26-year-old was later joined by former Stags teammate, Oli Hawkins, as the Galinsons did their best to help the squad retain EFL status.
Lapslie came through the youth ranks at The Valley and made his pro debut in an EFL Trophy tie away at Crawley in August 2017, scoring in a 2-0 win.
A loan spell at Chelmsford in 2018 was followed by a spell at Mansfield two years later, and it was this move that was made permanent in the summer of 2021 with Lapslie signing two-year deal at the One Call Stadium. His first Gills goal came in a 2-1 win over Grimsby at Priestfield in February 2023.
MANAGER QUOTES
"We are the holders of this trophy, so we want to start our defence in the right way. I will be making changes, but certainly not wholesale changes. We have players away on international duty so there will be changes in those positions and in the attacking areas because we need to be better in the final third," Darren Ferguson said.
You can watch Ferguson's interview here
TICKET NEWS
As of 1.30pm on Monday, 217 tickets had been sold for the game at Priestfield. Posh fans will be accommodated in the Gordon Road Stand Seating to the side.
TICKET PRICES
Adults: £10
Seniors 65+: £8
Under 18s: £5
Under 14s: £1
OFF SALE DATE
Tickets for this match will go off sale at 12pm on Tuesday 3rd September. The game is not all-ticket.
POSH+
Overseas subscribers will still be able to buy match passes to watch the game, but due to the new Sky TV deal, there will be no match passes available in the UK.
KIT COLOURS
Posh will be in the third kit for the game.
MATCH OFFICIALS
The referee is Craig Hicks.