Peterborough United teenager Kai’s call-up for a Football League debut was a ‘massive’ surprise

The 19 year-old was able to join Posh from West Ham United after the club’s agreed a deal which involves delayed payments.

The Hammers were entitled to ask for a fee in the region of £500k, even though Corbett was out of contract, because of the time he spent in the Premier League Academy and because they offered him a new contract which he rejected.

Posh director football Barry Fry insisted no money has yet changed hands because of his relationship with Hammers owners David Gold and David Sullivan.

Corbett left West Ham in seaech of first-team football and he had trials at Southampton and Wolves before moving to Posh to train a couple of months ago.

“I suppose getting called up to play so quickly sort of justified my decision,” Corbett said. “But I know I have a lot of work to do and plenty to learn to play regularly.

“It was a massive surprise to get a call-up just a couple of weeks after signing a contract here, but obviously I was also happy and excited.

“It was nervous waiting for the game to come around. Hours seemed like days and when I told my family I was starting they didn’t believe me at first. They thought I must have been in the first-team squad rather than starting.

“I managed to get loads of them into the game so that was great and I enjoyed the experience.

“As soon as the game kicked off and I got a couple of touches I relaxed.

“Obviously the defenders at this level are different to the ones at under 23 level. They know where to push you so I had tp adapt quickly.

“The conditions were tough as well. It was so windy it was hard to work out where the ball was going to land as it was veering off in all directions. There weren’t many scoring chances, but the manager seemed happy with me. I’m not getting carried away though.”

Corbett is expected to stay in the Posh matchday squad for the trip to Nottingham Forest tomorrow (December 2).