Problems piling up for Peterborough United, but the manager remains 'optimistic'
Peterborough United manager Luke Williams insists he remains ‘optimistic’ about the rest of the season, even though he has lost the services of several key players.
There is now a good chance that either Pemi Aderoju or David Kamara will start for Posh for the first time in Saturday’s League One fixture at Leyton Orient.
Top scorer Harry Leonard is out for at least a month after his hernia operation, and with attacking midfielder Matt Garbett’s return delayed again, Williams will have to gamble with his team selection.
JJ Morgan would have been expected to take on Leonard’s regular role in the team if Garbett was able to play. Now it looks likely Morgan will stay as a ‘number 10’, unless Williams turns again to 17 year-old Patryk Sykut. Sykut scored on his first start for the club in a 3-3 draw with Exeter City last month.
"JJ was brought up as a number 9 at Chelsea and he has the qualities to play there for us,” Williams said. “But we also have two young number 9s in Pemi and David who are very ambitious and driven so I’m excited by them as well. Obviously any team in League One would miss Harry, but the others are all ready to play.
"Pemi has shown he can compete and score at this level. I can only see him getting better. David is bright, quick and powerful and you should see the lengths he has gone to, to improve his game.
"They are two young players who have not come through the traditional route, but they have refused to give up on their dreams. That gives them an edge. We also have Patryk with us who is a natural number 10.”
Posh are back in action this weekend for the first time since their 1-1 draw at Northampton Town on February 28. They will be facing an Orient side who tackled two tough away games since Posh last played, losing 2-1 at Bradford City last weekend before coming from behind to beat Stevenage 2-1 on Tuesday night to lift themselves out of the relegation zone.
"Orient were very good at Stevenage,” Williams said. “They played some brilliant football against a very good side. They are probably in a false position in the league so we will have to give a strong performance to get anything there.
"We’ve had a good break though. Every team would benefit from one at this stage of the season. The application of the players has been good. We are in a good place and I see a lot of energy. There’s nothing to stop us performing well. We are not tired and no-one who plays on Saturday will be carrying knocks.
"There is still a lot of teams fighting at the positive end of the table and a lot still fighting at the dangerous end. We are stuck in the middle so we need to make sure we get nearer to the better end. I’m very optimistic for the rest of the season.”
Midfielder Donay O’Brien-Brady has an ankle injury and will not feature on Saturday.