Hugh Alban Jones

Posh U18s face The Tykes on Saturday morning in the Professional Development League.

Peterborough United U18s welcome Barnsley U18s to the idverde Training Ground on Saturday morning (11am) in the Under-18 Professional Development League.

The under 18s picked up their first point of the league campaign last weekend, coming from behind to secure a 2-2 draw with Sheffield United after second-half goals from Harley Mills and Ollie Rose.

The Tykes comfortably won the Professional Development League last season - 11 points ahead of second-place Sheffield United - and have enjoyed a positive start to this campaign, only losing once in their opening six games and are currently sat second in the table.

U18s Professional Development Phase Coach, Hugh Alban Jones, is keen to build on the draw with The Blades after showing good character to fight back, but is expecting a tough test against The Tykes.

Jones said: “We are looking to build on last weekend’s result. We saw some positive stuff, especially in the second half, but to find ourselves two-nil down was not ideal. The players reacted really well, showed good character and the fundamentals we asked for, in terms of working hard, winning second balls and putting in tackles, were evident in the second 45 minutes. So, we were pleased with that and we want to take it forward into this Saturday.”

“We expect a really tough match against Barnsley. They are always very physical and they will test us defensively. Obviously, we will do our research and see how we can Implement our game against them, but we won’t get away from what we do in terms of our style of play and our fundamentals.”

Forwards Joel Odei-Larbi and Andre Changunda will miss this weekend’s clash against The Tykes, with both expected to return to full training next week. Defender Fabian Claxton also remains unavailable.