Peterborough United’s under-pressure keeper to play against Arsenal and a first-team debut for an Academy graduate

Pym let a soft shot enter his net during Saturday’s 3-2 League One over AFC Wimbledon. Posh boss Darren Ferguson remains supportive of a player he signed in the summer, but he won’t put up with too many more errors.

Pym has started every Posh competitive match this season. He will be joined in the game against Arsenal by youngsters Kyle Barker, Harrison Burrows, Idris Kanu and Serhat Tasdemir as well as experienced professionals Alex Woodyard and Rhys Bennett. It would be Academy graduate Barker’s first-team debut.

A win for Posh would guarantee progress into the knockout stages. Posh have already won at Northampton who in turn beat Arsenal on penalties.

“Christy wants to play tonight and I have no issue with that,” Ferguson stated.

“He made a human error on Saturday and I have sympathy with that. He was concentrating on what he was going to do with the ball before he’d saved it.

“It happens to goalkeepers and fortunately it didn’t cost us anything in terms of the result, but he knows he can’t repeat it. He also made a bad mistake against Ipswich which cost us a goal.

“Christy has done well for us overall, but he has to stop making mistakes.

“I’m looking forward to tonight’s game. Arsenal are certain to be quick, technically good and full of energy, but we will have some very good young players on the pitch as well.

“We want to win and get through before we play our final group game. We’ve prepared in exactly the same way we would for a league match.

“A repeat of the performance against Northampton would please me. Siriki Dembele and Idris were brilliant that night and I want to see that level from a few others who should be knocking on the first-team door.

“Serhat was outstanding as a substitute against Wimbledon. I’m delighted with him. He’s going to be a good player. He’s strong, he can pass and he has vision. It’s a shame the two golden chances he created on Saturday didn’t lead to goals.

“Alex Woodyard showed on Saturday that he could perform in a midfield diamond so it’s another good opportunity for him to show what he can do. It didn’t work out for him at the start of the season, but it wasn’t all his fault as we looked an unbalanced team because of the formation I used.

“Since we changed to the diamond we look much better so it should be easier for him to step in now.”

Posh season ticket holders will be admitted free of charge tonight.

Possible Posh team: Pym: Ward, Knight, Bennett, Butler: Woodyard: Burrows, Barker: Tasdemir: Kanu, Dembele.

Cambridge United are also in this EFL Trophy group. Posh host them on November 12.