Peterborough United chairman excited as club playing policy starts paying dividends, but will it work in the Championship?

​And MacAnthony is not just excited about this season.

He has revealed in the latest edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast the shift in approach was also designed to give Posh a better shot of staying in the Championship should they win promotion from League One.

Posh have never stayed at Championship level for more than two successive seasons.

Back-to-back away wins at Port Vale and Blackpool have propelled the team up to fourth place in League One, just four points off an automatic promotion place.

“The performance we delivered at Blackpool was how we envisaged we would be playing this season,” MacAnthony said.

"We didn’t think we would still have Jonson Clarke-Harris so we wanted speed at centre forward so we could rely on quick and incisive football rather than having a big number nine in the penalty area.

"It wasn’t just about this season either. If we are to get promoted we want to be able to try something different in the Championship.

"If we didn’t try something I would be breaking my own rules of not making the same mistake more than once.

"We have to be different to other clubs as we don’t have the money they have.

"We had to retool the squad. I’m working on a lot of things behind the scenes which needed my attention, but that didn’t mean we didn’t want to be competitive and we didn’t want to entertain. You know me I love goals and the 4-2 at Blackpool was my sort of game and performance.

"And we are certainly ticking some boxes. Is the football good? Has the recruitment been good? Have squad players been able to step up when the likes of Archie Collins and Peter Kioso have been missing? Is our philosophy working?

"i would say all these fundamentals are looking good so it looks positive and long may it continue.”

MacAnthony insists Clarke-Harris, a double League One Golden Boot winner, will still be a key squad man right up until his expected departure in January.

"When Jonno stayed we couldn’t just park a man with his record until he left in January,” MacAnthony added. “And to be fair the manager has used him in plenty of games.

"But the next transfer window is approaching so the manager made a decision to go with more pace up front because we need to find things out and ‘Jonno’ accepted it as we knew he would because he is a complete professional.

"He will still contribute and then he will get a good move with a good contract in January.

"We beat one of the best teams in League One in Blackpool. Not many teams will go there this season and play them off the pitch like we did, certainly for an hour.

"We’ve shown we can win tough games like at Port Vale and we have now shown we can still score lots of goals in a game like at Blackpool.

"There is a long way still to go obviously and the players need to stay healthy, but we will stick with our philosophy. It won’t change and all I would ask of our fans is encouragement when these young players make mistakes.”