Peterborough United chairman relishing the chance to tackle some big beasts, plus potential words of comfort from former boss
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony is relishing the opportunity to tackle some big hitters in League One next season.
Leicester City, Premier League champions 10 years ago, had relegation from the Championship confirmed this week, and Sheffield Wednesday were relegated many weeks ago.
Former Premier League clubs Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Luton Town, Barnsley and Blackpool could all also be in League One.
Posh still have to secure their own place in the third tier. They require a maximum of three points from their final three League One games, starting with a tough trip to play-off hunting Stockport County on Saturday, but safety will also be confirmed this weekend if Exeter City lose their penultimate match at Burton Albion.
MacAnthony, who was speaking on his Hard Truth podcast before the disappointing home results against Port Vale and Burton, said: “League One will be interesting next season and we will certainly see some bigger gates.
"I expect Cambridge to come up and Leicester will bring 4,000 fans with them, while Sheffield Wednesday also tend to bring a lot of support with them.
"If we get too many ex-Premier League clubs in the division it does get very difficult. We’ve had Leeds, Brighton, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester in League One with us before, but it didn’t stop us winning multiple promotions.”
Posh currently have an average home gate for League One matches of 8,414, the 15th highest in the division, with two games against Mansfield Town and Doncaster Rovers to go. The average attendance at the Weston Homes Stadium for 23 League One games last season was 9,151.
If results don’t go their way in the meantime Posh could face a crucial final day home game with Doncaster on May 2. Doncaster are managed by former Posh playing star and manager Grant McCann and he delivered comments this week which could be seen as a boost for his old club.
Doncaster confirmed their own safety with a 3-1 win at relegated Northampton Town last weekend before losing 2-0 at home to Lincoln City, a result that sealed a title win for ‘The Imps.’ McCann fielded a couple of fringe players in that game and is expected to do so again in their final two matches against Stevenage and Posh. Younger players could also feature.
Speaking to the PT’s sister paper the Doncaster Free Press, McCann said: “We might see more players who haven’t featured as much and some of the younger ones as well.It's good to be able to give these opportunities because a lot of the lads in the squad have had ample opportunities this year and obviously we've got some big decisions to make.
"It'll be a good couple of days in training and we'll look forward to the Stevenage game, but then it's ruthless time where I need to be honest with the players and say what's going to happen.
"I think League One will be stronger next year. If you think it was tough this year, it'll be tougher next. It'll be interesting to see how Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday get on so there's those two plus another from the Championship and then Bromley which isn't an easy place to go, so it'll be tough again.”
Star Doncaster winger Luke Molyneux has been ruled out for the season because of injury.