Peterborough United boss delighted with training ground work shining through and happy with squad, but sets no targets for the new season

Ferguson’s men gave the London Road faithful reason to be optimistic heading into the League One opener away at Reading next Saturday (August 5) thanks to a lightning start that saw them race into a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes.

Kwame Poku, Ehpron Mason-Clark and Hector Kyprianou scored the goals before Birmingham pulled one back through Sam Hogan with ten minutes of the half remaining.

Lukas Jutkiewicz tapped a further consolation with one of the final kicks of the game.

Posh fielded the same eleven throughout with the rest of the first team squad travelling to Watford for a behind-closed-doors friendly.

Ferguson said: “I’m delighted. I saw a lot of good things we’d worked on, on and off the ball. There was a real ruthlessness in transition and I was really pleased with that. We’ve got players that can really hurt teams when we win the ball high up. A lot of elements of the game were very, very good.

“The quality was there and I’m really pleased with Hector’s goal because we’ve done a lot of work on midfielders getting into the box. The players have taken on the messages throughout pre-season really well and there’s been no injuries which is key to a good pre-season.”

With his selection, the Posh boss handed a hint at the starting XI that is likely to walk out at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in a week’s time. He insisted that he is happy with his squad right now, but expects further departures. There was, however, no further updates on incomings.

Ferguson said: “At the moment, Jonno is still with us. The four players on the transfer list have been exceptional in terms of their attitude. Jonno was a handful today. It was a very good performance and the other three (Joe Tomlinson, Josh Knight and Jeando Fuchs) have been great as well. If the window were to shut now we’d be fine. We’ll carry on, but we fully expect one or two to leave we’ve just got to be prepared for that and get replacements.

"Peter (Kioso) will get forward as he’s an athlete. He’s only 23, but very mature. He’s a good talker and he’s been very good since he walked into the building. He’s an important signing for us.

"We know Harrison (Burrows) can play at left-back as he played there at the end of last season in the most vital games and he was outstanding. He enjoys playing there. He can play five different positions, but we’ve found a position that suits him because we are an attacking team. He can come in and play in midfield from full-back. He links up with Ephron and his defensive work has got far better.

"The goalkeeping department is good. It’s young, but it’s strong. You’ve seen today that Nic (Bilokapic) is going to be a good goalkeeper as he’s quick and very light on his feet. He didn’t have many saves to make, but he did well.

"I’m really looking forward to the new season. I’ve got a real motivation for this season and the following years. My motivation is to build a new team and that’s what we’re doing and this lot have got real potential.

“But there are no targets for this season.”

Ferguson confirmed that “everyone who needed to” got 90 minutes in the other friendly but Jeando Fuchs came off early with tiredness.

Goalkeeper Will Blackmore was not involved in either game today, but is expected to return to training on Monday after being ruled out with a bug, according to Ferguson.