Manager Dave Robertson believes he has enough defensive options ahead of the new campaign.
Peterborough United boss Dave Robertson spoke to theposh.com following the conclusion of the morning training session on Tuesday in Ireland and the defensive options in the squad were at the forefront of his mind.Robertson could field an international back four this season with South African international Kgosi Ntlhe, DR Congo star Gabriel Zakuani, Northern Irishman Michael Smith and potentially Portugal under 21 international Ricardo Santos all available for selection.
'I am really happy with the defensive options and I have been pleased with how they have performed in training. Kgosi has put in a lot of extra work during the summer and I believe that is already beginning to show.
'Gabi has been playing in qualifiers for DR Congo during the close season so he returned at peak fitness and ready to go. He is an out and out leader and with the young two lads either side of him in Kgosi and Ricardo Santos, we know that they will learn a lot from him. They both look up to him and Gabi is very influential in their development.
'Ricardo has been very good, he is a strong powerful presence who is good with the ball at his feet and he is now scoring goals which is another attribute that we have been working on with him in pre-season. There has been some talk about him being called into the Portugal under 21 squad in August and that would be a great experience for him. I know that there is a lot of interest in him including a a big team in Portugal and that just shows what promise he has.
'Michael Smith has been excellent. I will be very surprised if he is not called into a Northern Ireland squad this season. The thing I like about 'Smudge' is that he is solid. We never get less than a 7/10 performance from him. He is reliable, robust and will bomb on down the right hand side.
'We have got cover with Shaun Brisley and we are in negotiations with a Premier League club over a young centre half to add to that and that will give us extra strength. We are really excited about what we have in those areas of the field,' Robertson said.