Six strikers at Posh, but they want another one!

All of a sudden Posh have a big pool of strikers to choose from... but they are still seeking another one.

The arrival of Callum Morton on loan from West Bromwich Albion until the end of the season was accompanied by the return from injury of summer signing Jack Marriott and teenager Ricky-Jade Jones.

Add those to Jonson Clarke-Harris, Sammie Szmodics and Siriki Dembele and manager Darren Ferguson could soon have selection issues in forward areas.

But Posh director of football Barry Fry insists Posh have also targeted a young Premier League striker, although prising him away from the top-flight has proved troublesome.

Fry said: “We are after another striker, but our target is a player at a Premier League club who are not now sure they want him to go out on loan because of the situation with Covid.”

Fry insists Posh have no interest in the top scorer in the National League - Kabongo Tshimanga - despite the PT receiving a tip-off saying a £350k fee for the Chesterfield striker had been agreed and paid.

Fry added: “I have had no contact with Chesterfield.”

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony pointed out on his podcast this week that experienced Championship strikers expect £20k per week in wages which is too rich for his club.

Celebrity Posh fan and TalkSPORT radio presenter Adrian Durham was a guest on MacAnthony’s podcast this week and admitted concern about the club’s Championship future before a ball had been kicked.

“I looked back to the last time Posh were relegated from this division and then we had class players like Lee Tomlin, plus leaders like Gaby Zakuani in the squad. And we went down not because of a late goal at Palace, but because we lost the first seven matches,” he said. “We weren’t prepared well for the start of that season and it happened again this season as we had no fit striker.

“I was also told by people with Championship knowledge that we couldn’t start with Mark Beevers and Nathan Thompson in the side and yet we did. We also started with Christy Pym in goal who is now at Stevenage. And was Jonson Clarke-Harris really the man for the Championship? He lacks Ivan Toney’s mobility. It seems like we’re now hoping Jack Marriott can score 10 goals in 20 games to keep us up.”

• Posh player Idris Kanu didn’t make the Sierra Leone squad for their second Africa Cup of Nations game, a 2-2 draw with Ivory Coast. Sierra Leone will qualify for the knockout stages if they win their final game against Equitoreal Guinea today (Thursday, 4pm).

• The Posh trip to Cardiff City in the Championship has been pushed back 24 hours to Wednesday, February 9.

Sammie Szmodics in action for Posh.