Peterborough United defender Joe Tomlinson raring to prove himself to Posh fans fresh from Swindon loan

Darren Ferguson brought the 22-year-old in from National League side Eastleigh and even gave him a shock start on the opening day at Kenilworth Road against Luton.

He also started the Carabao Cup tie at home to Plymouth later but then largely reverted to playing in the club’s Under-23 side, where fans expected to see him mostly when the singing was announced.

In total, he made seven appearances (five starts) for Posh before heading out on loan to League Two Swindon at the end of January. The move was a perfect one for Tomlinson who lived in Swindon before buying a house in Peterborough and he still has close family that live there.

He joined Ben Garner’s side to try and help push them into the play-offs. In the end, the Robins made it to the play-off semi-finals but had to do it largely without Tomlinson. He missed the whole of March through but returned, only to have his season cut short four games from the end of the season.

In total, he played ten times for his loan club, scoring his first ever EFL goal on debut against Exeter. He even won the EFL’s Young Player of the Month award for February.

Tomlinson has been back at the club for rehab over the past few weeks and is now raring to show what he can do in a Posh shirt.

He said: “Going out on loan wasn’t a decision I took lightly, I thought it over with my family and my agent and when Swindon came up, it felt like the right fit.

“I spoke to the manager (Ben Garner) and when I heard about the way they wanted to play and where they were in the league it seemed ideal. I went in there and played but not as many games as I would have liked unfortunately, due to injury.

“I improved my game in that short period of time though. I felt like I needed that to be able to come back into the team this year and make a big impact.

“Scoring my first EFL goal was a nice feeling, the first of many hopefully and I’m looking forward to scoring more this season.

“I came back and had a chat with the new gaffer He watched me a few times at Swindon, which was nice, and I’m looking forward to the new season ahead. Hopefully, I can play a big part; I’m feeling good and ready to finally show the Peterborough fans what I can do.”

Tomlinson will be one of two natural left-backs in the squad this year and could feature heavily in the early part of the season as Dan Butler still makes his way back from the serious injury he sustained against Millwall last season.

He impressed Grant McCann enough with his loan performances to earn him a shot this season given that he was already out on loan when McCann arrived in February.