The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Posh squad preparations
Peterborough United manager Steve Evans admits he;s been blown away by the preseason form of summer signing Siriki Dembele.
The 21 year-old arrived at the ABAX Stadium after a difficult first season in professional football with League Two strugglers Grimsby Town.
Dembele was purchased with an eye to the future, but Evans believes he’s ready to play at League One level now and maybe even higher.
Dembele has scored four high quality goals in just three 45-minute run-outs as Posh have embarked on a free-scoring spree against three step four level opponents.
Posh followed last week’s 5-1 win at Stamford AFC with a 4-2 win at Bedford Town last Saturday and a 9-0 romp at Peterborough Sports on Tuesday.
“Some of the things young Siriki has done already have taken me by surprise,” Evans stated. “I knew he was good, but he’s been scoring goals in our friendlies that Championship and Premier League players might have struggled to pull off.
“Our fans are going to love this kid if he keeps this standard up and if he keeps working hard.
“I’ve been really pleased with the whole squad so far.
“The opposition hasn’t been the best and nor have a couple of the pitches, but our attitude has been spot on.
“We need to score more goals from other areas of the pitch as we are not likely to have Marcus Maddison and Jack Marriott next season and the players have taken that on board.
“We have scored some great goals and it’s encouraging that they are coming from different areas of the pitch. We’ve had sloppy moments in games which is natural at this stage of pre-season, but on the whole I am very pleased.
“We’ve respected all our opponents and not taken any of them lightly. We have things to work on, but we have time to do just that.”
Posh are at St Neots for a slightly tougher-looking friendly on Saturday and new striker Matt Godden should return to play in that game after missing the last two friendlies. Midfielder Adam King should also play after missing the Peterborough Sports match.
Goalkeeper Conor O’Malley has a calf strain and won’t be fit. Aaron Chapman played 90 minutes in goal at Peterborough Sports after coach Mark Tyler was given 45 minutes at Bedford.
Posh are expected to again field two separate teams for 45 minutes apiece at St Neots. The squad flies out to Portugal for a seven-day training camp on Sunday which also includes two matches against Portuguese opposition, topflight CS Martimo and Division Three side Louletano.
Posh will make a decision on whether or not to extend midfielder Anton Rodgers’ trial before the weekend. Posh have already signed four central midfielders - Mark O’Hara, Louis Reed, Adam King and Alex Woodyard - sonce the end of last season. Rodgers is a former Swindon player who turned out for non-league Hungerford United last season. He scored direct from a free kick at Bedford. He’s one of 10 different players to have scored for Posh this summer.
“Anton has done okay and he’s training hard to get match fit,” Evans added.
“We will be stepping up our fitness level next week. In Portugal I’ll probably give players an hour in one of the matches and 30 minutes in the other.
“We should have Matt Godden back at St Neots. He could have played at Peterborough Sports, but we decided against risking him. I enjoyed the night at Sports against a club who are making great strides under manager Jimmy Dean and an ambitious board. They are great friends and supporters of our club.”
Manager Steve Evans is happy with Posh’s summer form.
Matt Godden should return to the Posh team at St Neots.
Steve Evans: “Our attitude has been spot on in difficult conditions.”