Peterborough United to face familiar faces and 'one that got away' in Colchester United friendly

Ben Goodliffe playing for Sutton. (Photo by Pete Norton/Getty Images)

Peterborough United could come face-to-face with ‘one that got away’ on Saturday.

Posh have a behind-closed-doors friendly against League Two side Colchester United who recently signed highly-rated central defender Oliver Goodliffe from Sutton United.

Colchester manager Danny Cowley was delighted to capture the 25 year-old and revealed Posh had tried to sign the player 12 months earlier.

Cowley told the Colchester Evening Gazette: “I first came across Ben when he was at Boreham Wood.

Alex Woodyard in action for Posh. Photo Joe Dent/theposh.com.

“I looked at him when we were at Portsmouth, and I know that Peterborough put a significant transfer offer to Sutton this time last year.

"We see a player that has got a love for the game, which is so important and a commitment to be the best that he can be. He will improve us in both boxes.”

Goodliffe was part of the Sutton team that won promotion to the Football League in 2021 and played for them at Wembley in 2022.

There will be a couple of familiar faces in the Colchester squad as former Posh men Alex Woodyard and Harry Anderson have also been signed by Cowley.

Midfielder Woodyard skippered Posh under Steve Evans in the 2018-19 season. He had previously played for Cowley at Lincoln and spent last season in the National League with York City.

Winger Anderson, a Posh Academy graduate, also played for Cowley at Lincoln and played on loan for Colchester in the second half of last season. He was released by Stevenage at the end of the season.

**Posh are also sending a team to Stamford AFC on Friday (7.30pm kick off).