Peterborough United U21s return to action on Saturday afternoon (3pm) as they face local non-league side Whittlesey Athletic at the Danzen Logisitcs Stadium in the first game of their pre-season schedule.
It will be a mixture of under 18s and under 21s travelling to the Danzen Logistics for the game this weekend, while an under 17s squad, consisting mainly of first-year scholars, will face Kinetic FC at the training ground.
Professional Development Phase Coach Jamal Campbell-Ryce is hoping to get plenty of minutes under all the players’ belts over the weekend. He said: “We have some really good weeks with the players now, but it will be about taking that into the opening game of pre-season.
“We have an under 17s game against Kinetic at the training ground, while an under 21s squad will face Whittlesey Athletic, so we are just looking for everyone to get 45 minutes and build up their match fitness.
“These next few weeks for me is all about fitness, then the structure of how we want to play will come later on in the coming weeks. It’s about getting a solid amount of minutes under all the players' belts and that will allow us to build from there.”
The youngsters returned to training at the back end of last month and Campbell-Ryce was full of praise for the attitude the players have shown since returning for pre-season training.
“I have been really happy with the players since they have returned. They have all shown some excellent fitness levels, but we had a couple of small injuries. Unfortunately, Ben [Challinor] is unavailable along with Fabian Claxton and Ollie Rose. However, on the whole, it has been a successful first two weeks of pre-season.”
Under 21s will continue their pre-season schedule with a trip to Dereham Town on Tuesday evening (7:45pm) while the under 18s will face West Ham United on the road.