Peterborough United chairman defends teenage striker after criticism from supporters

Ricky-Jade Jones of Peterborough United takes on the Stevenage defence in Tuesday's EFL Trophy tie. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

The 19 year-old was singled out for criticism after Posh made a disappointing exit from the EFL Cup in a first round tie at Stevenage.

Some Posh fans expressed the opinion that Jones hadn’t trained on and should be loaned out to gain experience rather than stay at the Weston Homes Stadium to support first-choice forwards Jonson Clarke-Harris and Jack Marriott.

Jones missed last Saturday’s League One defeat at Derby County because of injury, but started to answer his critics with a rip-roaring display against Stevenage in an EFL Trophy tie at London Road on Tuesday.

MacAnthony made his comments on the latest edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast before the Tuesday night game which saw Jones open the scoring in a 2-1 defeat.

"Ricky is 19 years old for goodness sake,” MacAnthony stated on his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast. “He hasn’t been fully fit for three seasons so to write him off after one poor team performance when there were more senior players worth millions of pounds on the pitch with him is just ludicrous.

"Those fans who want him loaned out should remember how he ripped Championship defences apart in the last 10 games of last season.

"Manchester City had to change their centre-backs to cope with his pace in an FA Cup tie and Nottingham Forest struggled badly against him.

"It’s usual for 19 year-olds to play really well one week and not so well the following week, but all these minutes he is getting from the start in cup ties and as a substitute in League One games are vital for him and us.

"Remember how Ronnie Edwards started out playing in these cup ties? They gave him the platform to play 30-odd Championship matches last season. That’s the way we do things.

"It’s also not unusual for teenagers to have injury issues while they are still growing, yet when they reach 20 those problems disappear. Steven Gerrard appeared to be made of glass early in career.

"Ricky is one of our own as well.”

Jones has been at Posh since he was nine. He has only started 18 games for the first team, scoring 8 goals. He has also made 43 substitute appearances.