Central defensive issues on the way for Peterborough Sports as they prepare for two important cup ties

Saturday’s 3-0 National League North defeat at Tamworth sent Sports into the relegation zone ahead of two cup ties now seen as vital by the club’s management.

Sports host Northampton Town Under 21s at PIMS Park on Tuesday (7.45pm) as they attempt to win the Northants FA’s Maunsell Cup competition for the second season in a row.

They then entertain Redditch United in a second qualifying round FA Cup tie on Saturday (September 16, 3pm) when defensive issues really will start to bite.

Centre-backs Connor Johnson and Ashton Fox start three-game bans on Saturday after both were sent off in the 1-1 home draw with Curzon Ashton last week. Sports decided against appealing the dismissal of Posh loanee Fox.

A win against Redditch would be handy as Jonson and Fox would then miss the third qualifying round of the FA Cup which is scheduled for September 30. They would only miss one league game in that instance, a home clash with South Shields on September 23.

Johnson and Fox can both play tomorrow, but Sports may experiment ahead of the tougher games that follow. As things stand Sports only have joint player-manager Michael Gash and on-loan Lincoln City defender Hayden Cann as centre-backs available for the FA Cup tie and the latter still has to get through a fitness test with his club after a recent injury absence.

Experienced defender Ryan Fryatt is currenly absent with a calf injury and won’t be available at the weekend.

"Hayden is due to play an hour for Lincoln on Tuesday so hopefully he gets through that,” Gash said. “Otherwise it will get difficult. I’m not really a centre-half, but we have to do what we can.

"We could sign someone, but then in a fortnight everyone else could be back and we would have five central defenders which we can’t really afford.

"I could have done better with the two goals we conceded in the first five minutes of the match at Tamworth. They were two great deliveries, but I perhaps showed my inexperience in the position.

"We actually settled down quite well after that and had some good spells of possession, but we need to be more cut-throat when we get into good areas.

"There’s no real penetration at the moment. I believe we have it, but we haven’t quite worked out how to make it happen.

"It’s good to get a break from the league, but these are two very important cup games for us.

"Tomorrow is a chance to win a trophy and obviously we also want to do well in the FA Cup.

"We might have to experiment with our shape in tomorrow’s game just as preparation for Saturday, but we will be strong.”

Recent centre-forward signing Harrison Nee is expected to miss both cup matches with an ankle injury.

Sports at Tamworth