Man Utd keeper to join Posh
Manchester United's Ben Amos arrived at London Road last night (Wednesday) to ease the Peterborough United goalkeeping crisis.
Manchester United's Ben Amos arrived at London Road last night (Wednesday) to ease the Peterborough United goalkeeping crisis.The 19 year-old was expected to formally join Posh on an emergency loan today and will play against Barnsley in a crucial Championship clash on Saturday.
Posh will be without first choice Joe Lewis as he serves a suspension after receiving the first red card of his professional career in the Carling Cup tie at Blackburn on Tuesday, while understudy James McKeown is thought to be too inexperienced for such a big game.
Amos has made one first team appearance at Old Trafford - a 3-1 Carling Cup win over Middlesbrough in 2008 - and has won England caps at Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20 levels.
It's likely he will play just one game for Posh before returning to United. Lewis has accepted a one-match ban even though he believes he was harshly treated when conceding a penalty for an alleged foul on Morten Gamst Pedersen.
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Lewis stopped short of accusing Pedersen of diving, but claimed the Norwegian had 'made the most of the situation'.
Lewis, speaking to the official Posh website, said: "I tried to pull out of the challenge, but I didn't quite do enough and he caught my shinpad.
"I wouldn't say he dived because there was contact, but he made the most of the situation. I suppose most strikers would have gone down in that situation.
"I still think the referee didn't have to send me off, but he pulled the red card out very quickly and there was nothing I could do about it then."
Posh manager Darren Ferguson revealed that the club considered an appeal, but the possibility of an increased ban to two matches if the appeal was found to be frivolous made them back off.
McKeown has twice replaced Lewis in recent matches, but conceded six goals in about 70 minutes of football against Nottingham Forest and Blackburn.
More about Ben Amos:
Introducing... Ben Amos - Manchester United Official Web Site
Ben Amos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Player fitness ahead of Barnsely match
Striker Craig Mackail-Smith and centre-back Gaby Zakuani, who both missed the trip to Ewood Park because of injury, are expected to be fit enough to return on Saturday. Right-back Charlie Lee is a bigger doubt because of a bruised ankle picked up at Blackburn.
Meanwhile Posh's chances of success against Barnsley could be in the hands of one of London Road's most successful Academy graduates.
Peterborough-born goalkeeper Luke Steele was with Posh for eight years from the age of nine before moving to Manchester United for 500,000 after just two first-team matches for his hometown club.
Steele is now Barnsley's first-choice keeper and he has warned his former club they will be facing fired-up opposition this weekend.
Steele said: "We've improved greatly since Mark Robins became manager. We now step on the field believing that we can beat anyone.
"We have narrowly lost our last two Championship matches, but a look at the league table shows how important a game it is. If Posh beat us they will go above us on goal difference so we can't let that happen."
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Weather for Peterborough
Friday 19 March 2010
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