New Peterborough United coach surprised with attitude and ability of club’s squad

Tonge arrived at the club two weeks ago to join the club’s coaching staff. He briefly played with manager Grant McCann at Barnsley in 2007 and was a coach at the club when they won promotion to the Championship during the 2018/19 season.

Previous clubs the 36-year-old has coached at include Scunthorpe, Rotherham and Hearts.

Tonge says that he has been impressed with what he has seen from the club’s squad since his arrival. He singled out the player’s attitude, something he did not expect to be so good given the club’s lowly league position.

He said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. The boys have shown a great attitude, considering the position of the club. More often than not, you think the dressing room would be quite low, but the spirits are high and that’s testament to the Grant and Cliff. They’ve managed to keep the players positive and the players have excellent.

“It’s a really positive environment where people are going to be challenged but also given licence to express themselves and I think you get the best out of any human doing that and hopefully it is the perfect recipe.

“I’ve been really impressed with them in the few days I have worked with them, not just with their attitude but with the actual ability they have got. It’s one of those where you probably don’t realise how good they are until you work with them. They are a really good group and I’m looking forward to working with them going forward.

“I’m still young and have got lots to learn but coming into work, the gaffer and Cliffy have very good experience working as a pair and that’s something for me to learn from and hopefully add my little bit to as well.

“I hope that when people meet me they have a positive experience because I like to have a laugh but at the same time, they know where the line is drawn. Ultimately, there’s an opportunity for more than one voice, they know that the main voice is the gaffer’s but they know that me and Cliffy are there to speak to as well, which can definitely help in this environment.”