George could be a second-half star for Peterborough United

George Cooper (left) celebrates his goal for Posh against Rochdale with teammate Ivan Toney.

The attacking midfielder was a goalscoring substitute in last Saturday’s 2-1 League One win over Rochdale at the ABAX Stadium after replacing man-of-the-moment Lee Tomlin.

The 22 year-old is unlikely to break into the four-man attacking axis of Tomlin, Ivan Toney, Siriki Dembele and Marcus Maddison at second-placed Luton tomorrow (January 19), but he’s now knocking on the door at least after a frustrating first-half of the campaign.

Remarkably Cooper has yet to start a League One game this season after surviving last summer’s cull of the playing squad.

Callum Cooke has forced his way into the Posh startling line-up in recent games.

“I’ve made an impact in the last couple of matches,” Cooper said. “And hopefully I can keep pushing and get in the starting line-up.

“It won’t be easy as the front four who played last weekend are great players for League One, but all I can do is keep working and to take my chance when it comes.

“I should have scored after coming on at Chelsea so it was good to score against Rochdale

“I’d love to get on at Luton. I’ve played there before and it was a great atmosphere.

“They are flying so it should a great game, but I fancy us to nick it.”

Posh boss Steve Evans said: “George Cooper was good in spells in the reserves this week and it’s encouraging to see him forcing his way into contention for a starting place.

“Callum Cooke has shown that players who haven’t featured much in the first half of the season can still have a big part to play.

“The way we are playing at the moment suits George. In fact he has done so well after replacing Lee Tomlin in the last two games I could easily play them both together.”