Peterborough Sports receive a natural boost by beating Peterborough United

​A first-half Dan Lawlor penalty was enough to defeat a strong Posh team at PIMS Park on Tuesday, a result achieved without the services of first-choice central defenders Ryan Fryatt and Connor Johnson.

"It’s only pre-season, but a result like this gives a natural boost,” Steele said. “To beat a higher level side like Posh without fluking the result has to be good for the players. We restricted them to half-chances.

"It was a very good performance. We won the game by doing the hard yards. Not one player failed to track a runner in 90 minutes. Application wins matches and we proved that.”

Key men Connor Kennedy, Nathan Fox and Isaiah Bazeley have left the club this summer, but Sports are happy with their six new signings.

Centre-back Hayden Cann (Lincoln City) and midfielder Roddy McGlinchey (Posh) have joined on season-long loans, while former Notts County right-back Matt Tootle, strikers Ben Fowkes and Sidney Pereira, and defender Matty Miles have also been recruited.

Another Posh youngster Ashton Fox played against his parent club for Sports on Tuesday and a loan move could be sealed before the non-league club host a Barnsley XI on Saturday (3pm).

A concern ahead of the league opener at home to Scarborough Athletic on August 5 is the absence in pre-season of Johnson (calf) and Fryatt (groin).

"We hope the injuries will clear up before the Scarborough game,” Steele said. “But otherwise it’s not been a bad summer for us.

"We’ve recruited well, the ground has improved and the new owner has been very supportive ever since he came through the door.

"Of course we won’t have the biggest budget. We are a very small club at this level, but we showed last season we could compete.

"We didn’t finish it very well, but only once we knew we weren’t going to make the play-offs. There was also concern we would get relegated because of the ground, but the owner worked a miracle to get it up to scratch.

"You had to see what it was like before to really appreciate it now, but it’s our home and we will make it work for us.

"Size doesn’t always mean anything in football anyway. Portsmouth are stuck in League One and Manchester City were there not so long ago.

"With the right attititude and approach you can achieve anything. My favourite game in my time at the club was the win at Chester last season.

"We had 10-15 fans there among 2,000 home fans and yet we won the game. it’s great we are even competing with the likes of Chester, never mind beating them.

"The new signings look good. Matt Tootle is a great character with bags of experience and I’m delighted we have taken a punt in a local gem like Sidney Pereira.

"Sidney is Portuguese, but came up through the Youth Dreams Project system and is an exciting talent. He played for Huntingdon last season, but we believe he can make the step up.”