Posh U18s begin their 2022/23 campaign with a visit from Ipswich Town on Saturday morning.
Peterborough United U18s kick-off their 2022/23 Under-18 League 2 (North) campaign as they welcome Ipswich Town to the idverde Training Ground on Saturday morning (11am), with manager Jamal Campbell-Ryce excited to get the new season underway.
The under 18s ended pre-season on a positive note, with two successive victories in the final two pre-season games, including a 3-1 win over Kinetic FC last Saturday.
Gabriel Overton, who scored twice in last weekend’s friendly for Campbell-Ryce’s side, will continue to be involved in Grant McCann’s squad for this weekend’s Sky Bet League One fixture against Plymouth Argyle after making his debut for the first-team on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup win at Home Park.
Yanos Bodnar, who’s currently on a youth loan at Kettering Town, will be unavailable but the under 18s welcome back Joel Odei-Larbi and Josh Marcon, who have been two noticeable absentees in the last few games.
Campbell-Ryce said ahead of the game: “It has been a long time coming, but pre-season has been good and getting all the players' fitness levels up, helping the First Years get into a rhythm by coming to the training ground every day. Now, it’s the time to put all that hard work from pre-season and start taking it into the new campaign, with all focus now on Ipswich Town on Saturday.”
“I have mentioned throughout the last few weeks, it’s always nice to get the win and get into those habits, but the real games start tomorrow and hopefully we can put in a good performance and then the result will follow. We are missing a few key players, but it's a good opportunity for those players who have been given the chance due to some of the noticeable absentees to give a good account of themselves and keep hold of the shirt."
On Overton’s debut against Plymouth Argyle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, he said: “I’m really proud of him [Gabriel]. Over the last year, I have done loads of work with him and he has taken that in, and his performances from training have been taken into games, so he deserves all the credit for that. He was warranted with a professional contract, unfortunately, he suffered an injury at the back-end of last season. However, he has started where he let off in pre-season and the first-team manager has highlighted that, but it just shows the opportunities are there for the players and they just have to give a good account of themselves."