The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Double delight for new midfielder
The Posh mood lurched from disappointed to devastated in the space of 48 hours. The frustration of conceding a last-minute equaliser in last Saturday’s League One game with Port Vale at the ABAX Stadium paled into in significance when news of J er maine Anderson’s season-ending injury broke.
The 20 year-old midfielder damaged knee ligaments in the first half of the Vale game and now faces a second lengthy spell on the sidelines in the last two seasons.
“I’m devastated for Jermaine ,” Posh boss Grant McC ann said .“But if anyone in my squad has the mental strength to fight his way back to fitness from a second serious injury, it’s Jermaine.
“He had made great progress from his original knee injury. We had been careful with him and he was slowly returning to his best form.
“Jermaine had his operation on Tuesday night and the injury is a little worse than the first one which is obviously not good.
“It’s the other knee this time and it can only be down to bad luck. We’ve had three similar injuries on our own pitch now (Jack Baldwin was the other), but we’ve checked everything, even the studs on their boots, but nothing is obviously wrong.”
Posh are sixth in League One after Saturday’s draw. They would have been third if they had held on to their lead and top if they hadn’t conceded late in their previous game at home to Swindon as well.
“We actually played better in the Vale game than in any other game apart from Millwall at home,” McCann added.
“We created as many chances as in that game and we played some good stuff, but after taking the lead with five minutes to go we performed like schoolboys.
“We we reall over the place, all over the field and ended up conceding another late goal.
“We were slicing clearances and I lost myvoice shouting at Fozzy [Chris Forrester] and Leo[DaSilvaLopes] to get back in position, but ultimately the goal came from one of their midfielders running past one of ours.
“We had enough experienced players on the pitch like Michael Bostwick Jack Baldwin and Andrew Hughes to see the game out easily.
“It’s something we must learn quickly as well as becoming far more ruthless in front of goal.
“Having said that it’s obvious from the way we played that we are not far away from where we want to be.
“Overall the signs are very encouraging.”
Left-back Andrew Hughes was dismissed in the final minute after conceding the penalty which enabled Vale to equalise.
Posh appealed the red card awarded for denying a goalscoring opportunity, button o avail. Posh have now conceded four penalties in seven League One matches and all of them have been converted.
Posh again have one of the worst disciplinary records in League One. They finished bottom of the division’s ‘Fair Play’ League last season and only Swindon and Shrewsbury are below them so far this season.
Posh have collected two red cards (Jack Baldwin and Hughes) and 12 cautions in seven League One matches.
On-loan Spur swinger Nathan Oduwa staked his claim for a starting place at Sheffield United on Saturday with two goals in a 4-0 win for Posh Under 23 sin their opening Central League game of the season against Southend.
Unwanted striker Shaqui le Coulthirst also scored while an own goal completed a rout for Dave Farrell’s team at the Mick George Training Academy.
Former Spurs player Coulthirst, who was watched by two National League clubs, was also credited with three assists.
Coulthirst was watched by two National League clubs.