Peterborough United boss Grant McCann delighted with progress of Joel Randall as he added another goal in preseason

Peterborough United boss Grant McCann has expressed his pleasure at the progress million-pound signing Joel Randall has made over the summer.

The 22-year-old arrived for a hefty fee last summer but was hampered by injuries and managed just one Championship start, with ten further substitute appearances. The youngster recently opened about the loneliness he struggled with last season but he has now come into this campaign with a renewed confidence.

He scored Posh’s opener in their preseason friendly against Deeping Rangers on Tuesday night (July 12) to make it two goals in the club’s two warmup matches after notching an impressive goal against Leyton Orient in Portugal.

McCann said: “Joel looked sharp again, when he gets going, he can really shift. He put some great balls in with his left foot and it’s a good finish with his right foot. It’s a little bit of a deflection but they all count.

“He looked threatening and I’m pleased with Joel. He’s come back in a good place mentally as well as physically and he’s looking great at the minute.

"All of our forwards are going to be massive for us this season. Whichever three or four we play this season, we need them to contribute goals and assists all season and they have so far. The competition is fierce up there and you can see them all up there wanting to create and that’s what we want.

Posh rather laboured to a 4-0 win against the United Counties Premier Division side and we’re only 1-0 up until McCann brought a completely fresh XI on the hour mark. After that, the extra energy helped Posh over the line with Kwame Poku and Jonson Clarke-Harris (twice) getting on the scoresheet.

McCann singled out Poku and Joe Taylor for praise but most importantly, Deeping themselves for stepping up to replace Doncaster Rovers, who cancelled a scheduled behind closed doors match between the sides over the weekend.

Deeping were due to face Cambridge City on Tuesday but cancelled and hosted Posh instead in front of a crowd of 1044.

McCann added: “Thank you to Deeping. We were down to play Doncaster but we got a text message on Saturday or Sunday evening to say that they can’t fulfil the game. That was frustrating because when you’ve already set out your schedule, it really affects you.

“One of the first calls we made was to Deeping. They had a game but they’ve managed to move that game and they’ve managed to host us and over 1000 people; which is great for the community and I’m glad we could help them.

“The pitch was long, dry, it was difficult to move the ball quickly on it. I felt for the first 60 minutes we were a bit safe. We got into some really good areas an we just didn’t find the right pass and kept coming back. The last 30 minutes I felt we get a lot better. There is lots to learn and lots to get better at. The most important thing for us is it’s 60 minutes into some and 30 into others and we’ll flip it around against Stevenage.

"I thought Joe Taylor was excellent though, particularly for the first 45 minutes. A lot of the runs he made we just didn’t see him. It was nice to see him come in because we didn’t see him in Portugal but I liked what I saw tonight. He’s unfortunate not to have scored with some of the blocks that came in.

"He (Poku) has missed an open goal from about a yard out but that goal is what he’s all about; dazzling people and we’ve seen it in the Championship. We’ve see the way he just glide and it’s an excellent finish from him.”