Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris will learn his fate following an FA charge on Wednesday

Clarke-Harris has been in limbo since giving evidence in writing three weeks ago, but D-Day is now thought to be close. The player turned down the chance to attend a hearing in person.

The club are bracing themselves for a lengthy ban for comments allegedly made when Clarke-Harris (27) was 18 and in his first spell at Posh.

It’s thought the alleged comments were unearthed soon after Posh won promotion from League One in May. The FA charged Clarke-Harris on August 16 with six breaches of their rules relating to social media comments that were posted in 2012 and 2013.

It was alleged the posts were insulting/and or abusive/and or improper/and or bought the game into disrepute. It is also alleged the breaches constituted an aggravated breach which included a reference to sexual orientation.

At the time Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony said: “Somebody, just after we won promotion, spent hours going through a then 18 year-old’s tweets to find stuff and then reported him. World we live in nowadays.”

Burnley forward Andre Gray was banned for four games for historic homophobic comments that were unearthed in 2016. If Clarke-Harris gets a four-game suspension he would miss Championship matches at his former club Coventry on Friday (September 24), at home to Bournemouth on September 29, at home to Bristol City on October 2 and at Middlesbrough on October 16.

Posh could be forced to play those matches without a recognised striker as summer signing Jack Marriott has a hamstring injury and teenage forward Ricky-Jade Jones has a long-term knee injury.

Clarke-Harris scored a penalty as Posh beat Birmingham City 3-0 in the Championship on Saturday.