Peterborough United chairman explains recruitment process and tells his experienced players to stand up and be counted

The presence of several potential wide players in the squad has been criticised as poor planning by some fans.

Posh signed David Ajiboye and Ephron Mason-Clark during the summer transfer window.

Joel Randall, Joe Ward and Kwame Poku were already at the club and all five players are capable of playing in wide areas, while McCann has also employed teenage forward Ricky-Jade Jones on the left of a front three.

Posh started the League One season at Cheltenham playing a 4-3-3 formation, but abandoned it at half-time after falling 2-0 behind. Posh switched to three centre-backs with wing-backs and won the game 3-2.

That formation pretty much stayed in place until the League One defeat at Bolton last weekend when a 4-3-3 system was again employed.

MacAnthony said in the latest edition of his Hard Truth podcast: “The manager won League One with Hull playing with pace out wide and he was very strong in the summer about playing 4-3-3 with us and recruiting for it.

"He wanted pace out wide and he was right.

"That’s what our recruitment was based on. We wanted four or five wide players as he wanted to play with width either side of a main striker and you back your manager. A number 10 was never a big part it.

"Granted our wingers have not stepped up to the plate yet and granted we’d only played one half of one game as a 4-3-3 until Bolton last week.

"But my advice to the manager before Bolton was to follow his instincts. He knows what it’s like to win League One, I don’t.

"He has to do what he thinks will win us promotion. We won some games playing with three at the back, but we’ve also been on this current run so he must do what he thinks is best with the players he has and he must stick to his guns. He knew what he wanted recruitment wise.

"He will always have our full support. He has since day one. We have invested heavily in this management team and we’re not going to turn around five months later and say ‘you know what we’ll move on’.

"Anyway it makes me laugh when people criticise the recruiment.

"We have players in the squad who have won promotion from League One before. There are players in the squad who have played a lot of games. They are the ones who need to step up. They need to stand up and be counted.

“Young players, the 19 year-olds and 20 year-olds shouldn’t be getting dug out. “The players who have a lot of League One games under their belt, who have won promotions, they need to lead from the front. They are the ones playing well below their level.

"And given the age of the players we signed they could also develop and play in other positions. Kwame Poku is a 10 who can play out wide. Ricky-Jade Jones played as a striker in our youth teams, but the manager sees him right now as a left-sided attacker.

"That’s not to say that might change in the future.

"We signed Ephron because the manager sees him as a wide player or a number nine and David Ajiboye will become a very good player for our club.

"When we signed him the manager said he would need time to settle in and we wouldn’t see the best of him until November.”

Hard Truth podcast