Grant McCann's faith in his Peterborough United squad will never die despite another Stevenage defeat

For the second time in eight days, Posh fielded a much-changed XI to take on a Stevenage side that also rung the changes and for the second time the League Two side came out on top.

This time, it was a 2-1 defeat for Posh in their opening EFL Trophy tie, a loss sealed by a goal from former player and city-born talent Carl Piergianni. Another Peterborough-born player Ricky-Jade Jones had given Posh an early lead at the Weston Homes Stadium.

Posh made nine changes from the defeat to Derby on Saturday, while Stevenage boss Steve Evans made seven changes of his own.

Grant McCann stood behind his side though and even praised their performance.

McCann said: “I couldn’t give a monkey’s what the critics think. I have a firm belief in this group and that will never die. I will back them to the hilt.

"Tonight, I thought large parts of the performance were good and I will focus on that.

"There are positives to take from every game, but we also know there are bits to work on like. the second goal as we have to deal with the second phase, the cross into the box better.

"I was pleased with a lot of the aspects of the performance. The result was not good, but the performance was good in large spells. We created lots of chances, particularly through Ricky, and should have scored a lot more.

“We gave the boys freedom up front by playing Joel Randall and Harrison Burrows centrally and giving them the chance to get on the ball more and I thought it worked.

“At the start of the second half, we’ve hit the bar and Ricky’s missed one on the line. We’re pleased with a lot of individuals, particularly Ricky, Kwame Poku and Ephron Mason-Clark. They were sensational and could have had a couple of goals each. We’re just disappointed to lose the way we did.”

McCann handed first starts to on loan goalkeeper Harvey Cartwright new signing Mason-Clark. Poku also started his second game of the season as he looks to build up his match fitness following a calf problem.

McCann added: “It’s great to have Harvey back, it’s the first 90 minutes he’s had this season. A thigh problem has been niggling him for a while. I don’t think he had any chance with any of the goals so I thought his performance was okay in the main.

"It was also nice to get Mason-Clark his first start tonight. I think the Posh fans have seen what he’s about with some of his movement and runs. He was really good.

“The reason we brought him here is because he can play all across the front. We’ve got a couple of formations we like to use and he’s versatile in all of them.

“We’ve got good options up there. Jonno (Clarke-Harris) and Jack (Marriott) are in tremendous form and you’ve seen the best of Ricky and Kwame tonight. It’s great to have Kwame back because he’s an important player for us and obviously we’ve now got Ephron as well.”