The Posh under 18s face a trip to the North West to face Crewe Alexandra on Saturday lunchtime.
The Peterborough United under 18s will be looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat at Barnsley last time out when they head North West to face Crewe Alexandra for the third time this campaign, this time in Professional Development League action (12pm).
The Posh youngsters met the Railwaymen in the FA Youth Cup with the home side coming out on top on penalties at Gresty Road and they were also successful in the first league meeting between the sides at the idverde Training Ground.
The Posh squad will be boosted by the news that players out at Step 4 and 5 on-loan will be available for selection and Lead Coach Jimmy Unwin is hopeful his side can show a ‘grittier’ side to their performance.
“We had a friendly earlier this week and we got a good response from the boys, I think it was a stretch too far for the young group that played at Barnsley last weekend. Credit to Barnsley, they are a good side, but we obviously contributed to that result, and we are looking for the players to be better in all areas.
“Crewe are a good footballing side; we respect them a lot because of the way they bring players through their system. We have played them in the league at home and obviously away in the FA Youth Cup, so we know what to expect, we want to go up there and put in a good performance.
“Yes, we want a reaction from the last game. We are looking for a bit of grit and resilience from the boys, we are looking for a strong mentality. If we concede a goal, we can’t have heads dropping, we can’t have a soft underbelly, we need to improve that area of the game for the boys. If we get a win, that is a bonus, at present, we just need to stem the flow of goals we are conceding and for me, making sure we have the players on the pitch we need,” Unwin said.