Elio Salerno

Posh U16s face The Bluebirds in the semi-final of cup competition.

Peterborough United U16s face Cardiff City U16s in the semi-final of the Professional Development League Cup at the Abbey Lawn, the home of Bourne Town Football Club, on Tuesday evening (7pm).

The under 16s progressed to the last four of the competition after an eight-goal thriller at the idverde Training Ground last month as Posh won on penalties following a 4-4 draw in 120 minutes.

Youth Development Phase Lead Coach, Elio Salerno, believes it will be a good contest and hopes his players can relish the opportunity of being in the latter stages of the competition. 

Salerno said: “It’s a great opportunity for us all. These types of games don’t come around very often, so we are very excited about it and we will see if we can reach the next stage. Some of these players have been in the academy system for quite a while and probably had less of an opportunity to experience cup competitions, especially in the latter stages. Hopefully, it’s something they can make good memories from and motivate them going forward to achieve these more often.”

“Cardiff have earned their place to be here. They like to have the ball and dominate possession, so it will be a good challenge for the players. It’s two good teams going head-to-head against each other and both sides aren't here by luck, we both deserve to be in the semi-final and will look to make the most of it.”

Updates of the game will be provided as much as possible on The Posh Academy Twitter account (@theposhacademy).