Peterborough United players are expected to respond positively to a heavy defeat

Goalkeeper Aaron Chapman is expected to play for Posh against Brighton Under 21.

Posh were humbled 4-0 at home by Barnsley in a League One fixture on Saturday, a result that might persuade manager Steve Evans to field a stronger team than in the club’s last tie in this competition, a 3-3 draw at MK Dons.

Certainly first-team selection is looking far less straightforward than earlier in the season.

Back-up goalkeeper Conor O’Malley (shoulder) and left-back Tyler Denton (knee) are not expected to be involved tonight, although they should return to training later this week.

Brighton coach Simon Rusk in his playing days.

Marcus Maddison is also expected to be absent this evening to face a Brighton team coached by former Posh midfielder Simon Rusk.

“It’s important we bounce back from a bad weekend,” Posh assistant manager Paul Raynor told the club’s media channels. “We haven’t had many of them this season so we are looking for a positive response from the players, in this game and in the League One fixture at Scunthorpe on Saturday.

“It’s not a case of just forgetting about Saturday. We have to deal with it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. We had a good meeting with the players on Sunday when we discussed the lack of intensity and other problems.

“We need to get back to what we were doing before that game and make sure Saturday was just a blip.

“Brighton will bring a talented side with them. They might play a couple of more senior players who need some match practice during the international break.

“But we will concentrate on playing well ourselves in what should be an entertaining game.”

Posh picked up a point from their opening tie - MK picked up two points after winning a penalty shootout - whereas Brighton were beaten in their opening game at Luton. The top two in each group go through to the knockout stages.