Ryan Semple

Posh U21s face The Royals on Monday Afternoon in the Professional Development League.

Peterborough United U21s travel to Bearwood Park Training Facility as they face Reading U21s in the Professional Development League on Monday afternoon (2pm) in their penultimate away game of the season.

The under 21s suffered a 4-1 defeat to The Tractor Boys last Tuesday and will look to return to winning ways in the league, but Professional Development Phase coach, Ryan Semple, spoke about his players staying focused throughout the whole 90 minutes after conceding two goals in two minutes in the second half.

Semple said: “We want a positive performance, especially after the game against Ipswich Town. I think second half was a lot better in that game, albeit there were a couple of mistakes which led to the two goals late in the half.

“We needed to sustain momentum after working hard to get that goal back, but then to undo that within two minutes was really frustrating. We have said to the players about maintaining focus throughout the game, whether you have the ball or not, and making sure you don’t undo any good work.”

The Royals, who compete in the southern region of the Professional Development League, are currently sat fourth, but have lost back-to-back games in the league after defeats to QPR and Wigan Athletic.

However, Semple is expecting another tough game against a well-organised team on Monday afternoon. He added: “They have some good players, who are aggressive, athletic and want to put the ball into dangerous areas quickly but have the ability to mix up their game. 

“So, we will have to be organised and focused which was a big thing we spoke about after the game on Tuesday. We will need to be switched on and stay concentrated throughout the whole game, but there are areas where we can exploit them and will look to do that on Monday.”

Updates of the game will be available on our Twitter account, @theposhacademy.