Taylor making good progress, but he’s unlikely to be risked on Saturday

Posh manager Darren Ferguson insists he will not take any risks with key midfielder Jack Taylor’s battle for full fitness.

Taylor, a star of the Posh promotion push last season, has not been seen in action since limping out of the pre-season friendly at Portsmouth on July 31 with a hamstring problem.

Posh have issued regular bulletins about the 23 yearold’s fitness and hinted at a return for matches in recent weeks, but he’s not even made the substitutes’ bench.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson has not ruled Taylor out completely from this Saturday’s Championship fixture at home to West Brom, but he’s more likely to hold him back until the international break is over.

“Jack has a chance of being on the bench on Saturday,” Ferguson stated. “He has had a good week this week after a slow week last week. He’s made good progress in the last few days so we are hopeful he will be back soon.

“But I have to weigh up risking Jack for one game when we know he will be fully fit to play as soon as the international break is over.

“We could certainly do with him back, but we have also showed we can cope without him.

“I have consistently said we will have more players at full fitness after the international break and with the exception of Mark Beevers and RickyJade Jones that’s still the case.

“I’m expecting Siriki Dembele to get through 80 minutes rather than 60 minutes this Saturday, but again we have to be careful. There is no point in gambling on the fitness of any player at this stage of the season.”

Captain and centre-back Beevers has been ruled out for eight weeks with a hamstring injury, while striker Jones has two more months on the sidelines because of a knee problem.

Jack Taylor in action for Posh in a pre-season friendly at Chelsea. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.