Peterborough United chairman insists he will back his new boss in the January transfer window, and don't rule out a return for Chris Conn-Clarke

Williams has eight weeks to evaluate the squad he has inherited, and that includes players who are out on loan like forward Chris Conn Clarke.

Posh have already been linked, rather predictably, with Millwall striker Macauley Langstaff who was a massive success playing for Williams at Notts County.

Any Posh incomings would have to be accompanied by outgoings as MacAnthony admits his club are currently over the permitted spending on salaries.

MacAnthony was speaking on the latest edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast. He said: “Luke has eight weeks to evaluate his squad. We are currently over the cap as we didn’t get players out in the summer so we might need to get five or six players out in January.

“I am over in December and I will sit down with Barry Fry, Luke and his assistant Ryan Harley and talk about what he needs. He might just want five out and no-one in, or he might want seven out and two in. I will support my manager as I always do.

"I know Luke sounded out managers who have previously worked for me before he took our job and he said they were all supportive of me. He was told I’m never in the dressing room, I never interfere, I don’t want to pick the team and if they wanted a player I got them a player.

"Luke is still finding his feet. He has 30 players with him so he has had little time to assess them all. A new manager often means that players who haven’t had much of a chance suddenly feel like they get a game and they up their tempo in training. There is an equal opportunity for everyone.

"It’s a fresh start and that includes players out on loan including Chris Conn-Clarke. He has been tweeting some daft stuff recently and my advice to him is to get his head down and stop engaging on Twitter. I was the man who paid £350k for him to get out of non-league football when no-one else would. I believed in him and he should now show the world why Peterborough United thought you were the next big one.

"Chris has been ripping it up at Carlisle and if Luke fancies him we could potentially bring him back.”

Posh signed Conn-Clarke from National League Altrincham in June 2024, but he made little impact at a struggling League One club. He is currently on loan at Carlisle until the end of January, but there are undisclosed options in place which are thought to include an extension until the end of the season.

That is Conn-Clarke’s preferred option as he stated here last week.

Conn-Clarke was involved in social media exchanges with Posh fans after helping Carlisle knock Reading out of the FA Cup over the weekend.