No new centre-back for Peterborough United before Luton test and the other selection decisions facing Fergie
Peterborough United will not have a new central defender at the club before Saturday’s League One clash with Luton Town at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Posh are on the lookout for a centre-back to act as cover for injured skipper Sam Hughes. Hughes is scheduled for an achilles operation on Friday and will then probably miss the next 10-12 weeks while recovering.
Posh have been linked this week with experienced former Huddersfield centre-back Tom Lees, but manager Darren Ferguson expects to be picking a team to face 'The Hatters’ from his existing squad. It’s likely summer signing David Okagbue and Oscar Wallin will start together again.
Ferguson also updated the situation on unwanted players, although he did not name names.
"Two or three players have been told if they find a new club in the rest of the transfer window they can leave,” Ferguson said. “But while they are here everyone who trains well with the right attitude remains available for selection.
"Sam will have his operation on Friday. We will know more about his recovery timeline after that, but we expect to be without him for 10-12 weeks. We are looking at one or two options as a result, but there won’t be anything happening before this weekend.
"We took Oscar Wallin off as a precaution last weekend in case there was a concussion, but he is fine and he is available for Saturday.”
Striker Bradley Ihionvien is also available despite leaving the defeat at Cardiff early last weekend, but Ferguson admits he has a decision to make regarding the goalkeeper position and on whether or not to include recent signing, forward Klaidi Lolos.
Posh signed Norwich City’s Vicente Reyes on loan to cover for injured number one Alex Bass, but Ferguson surprised many, including the new man, by going with transfer-listed Aussie Nick Bilokapic at the Cardiff City Stadium.
“VIcente was disappointed not to play,” Ferguson admitted. “He probably felt he was coming here to start games, but it’s never as simple as that. We had to field a back four that hadn’t played together before at Cardiff so throwing a new goalkeeper in as well would have been a risk. Vicente had been a bit quiet in his training sessions as well.
"Nick would have been disappointed with the second Cardiff goal, but generally he did well. I do have a decision to make for Saturday though. Alex is doing well. We might get him back in five weeks rather than six. He will definitely miss all of August.
"I have a decision to make with Klaidi as well. He’s missed a lot of pre-season which is a concern, but we’ve given him a heavy workload this week and we will see how he comes out of that before making a decision on him.
"If he doesn’t make it on Saturday he could be involved on Tuesday. We have six more games in August, seven if we beat Accrington in the cup, so we will have to manage a lot of workloads.”
Posh are at League Two side Accrington Stanley for a first round Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday, August 12.