Peterborough United manager excited to see his young and speedy forward line in action against Spurs

Former Chelsea striker Malik Mothersille will make his much-anticipated Posh debut in Tuesday night’s EFL Trophy tie with Spurs Under 21s at the Weston Homes Stadium.

He looks set to be partnered by fellow 20 year-old Ricky-Jade Jones who delivered one of his best displays in a Posh shirt in in Saturday’s 4-2 League One win at Blackpool.

That was the first four-goal display of the season for Posh who also have strikers Jonson Clarke-Harris and Jacob Wakeling – the latter is cup-tied so can’t play against Spurs – champing at the bit for first-team action. It’s a set of centre forwards backed by exciting talents like Ephron Mason-Clark and Kwame Poku who can each play in a couple of attacking positions.

"I was tempted to involve Malik at Blackpool,” Ferguson admitted. “But I have stuck to our original plan to play him first against Spurs and I’m looking forward to watching him.

"We’ve put the work into him that he needed and he’s looked good, but it’s important we see him up to speed tactically in terms of how we play as well as in terms of his fitness. We need to see he has an understanding of how we play.

"It’s also important Ricky keeps playing. Having gaps between his games doesn’t suit him. He will only build up his fitness by playing games.

"He obviously needs to keep delivering performances, but he was very good at Blackpool when he really showed what he is about and I just felt his extra pace would come in useful in two away games which it did.

"We have great competition for places up top now, whether we play one or two strikers.

"Jacob is getting up to speed and, although Jonno is different to the others, he still has a big part to play.

"We still expect him to leave in January, but that doesn't mean we put him to one side now.”

Ferguson confirmed some starters from the Blackpool match will start again, but there will also be many changes.

Midfielder Archie Collins, who missed the game at Bloomfield Road because of suspension, won’t be involved tomorrow as a precaution against a concussion injury suffered last Tuesday at Port Vale.

Collins trained today with no ill effects and is expected to return to the matchday squad for the first round FA Cup tie at home to Salford City on Saturday.