Peterborough United to keep faith with their young back-up strikers

Joe Taylor of Peterborough United in action against Plymouth Argyle - Mandatory by-line: Joe Dent/JMP - 10/08/2022 - FOOTBALL - Home Park - Plymouth, England - Plymouth Argyle v Peterborough United - Carabao Cup

The 19 year-olds followed goalscoring displays in a Carabao Cup first round win at Plymouth earlier this month with poor performances in Tuesday’s second round defeat at Stevenage.

Both were taken off early at the Lamex Stadium in the second-half and replaced by senior strikers Jack Marriott and Jonson Clarke-Harris as Posh bowed to a last-gasp goal.

But Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony insists club policy and budget restraints mean the teenagers will not be replaced by a late transfer window signing.

"We made a decision in the summer to go with Joe and Ricky as cover for Jonno and Jack,” MacAnthony said on the latest edition of his Hard Truth podcast which was recorded before the Stevenage defeat.

“It’s what we do as a club. We want our younger players to back up our experienced players to get experience and be ready when called upon.

"We can’t just keep going out and signing new players. We are restricted on what we can spend by Football League rules. People think there are ways around them, but there isn’t. The rules are steadfast.

"We can’t go out and spend £3k-£4k a week on new players because we can only spend a certain percentage of what we get in.

"We are not Sheffield Wednesday or Derby County with 30,000 gates.

“If we brought someone in, Ricky and Joe could then be out of the squad. They wouldn’t be getting those important minutes at the end of games as substitutes.

"Those minutes will help them become better players and start scoring goals. They both did well and scored at Plymouth not so long ago.

"That’s the decision we made because of the budget, the salary protocal and everything. That’s the direction we went in and we live and die by that.

“You can’t just can’t stack players. It’s a fine balance.

"Our squad has got younger. We have moved players out who were 26/27. That was another decision we made in the summer.

"I’m excited to see these young players in our team and happy we have one of the best strike partnerships in the EFL in Jonno and Jack.”

The transfer window closes at 11pm on Saturday, September 3.