Posh welcome Aston Villa Under 21s to the Weston Homes Stadium on Tuesday night for the second group phase game of the Vertu Trophy (7pm).
Peterborough United return to action on Tuesday night with a game against Aston Villa Under 21s in the group phase of the Vertu Trophy with Darren Ferguson's men knowing anything less than three points is likely to end their participation in the competition.
Posh go into the game on the back of a 3-0 defeat to Lincoln City while the young Villains were defeated 4-2 by Crawley Town in their first game of the group phase.
TEAM NEWS
Ferguson has confirmed he will make plenty of changes to his starting line-up for the game, to give others in the squad a chance what they can do ahead of a league trip to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
Sam Hughes, Declan Frith, Cian Hayes and Rio Adebisi are all sidelined through injury.
ONE TO WATCH
Ben Broggio
Ben Broggio (pictured below) is a creative attacking player who is effective in the final third of the pitch. He is technically proficient and has represented England at youth level. He signed a scholarship with the club in July 2023, signing his first professional contract in February 2024 and penning a new long-term deal in March 2025.
Broggio made his senior debut in September 2024, coming off the bench for Unai Emery's men in a Carabao Cup third round win at Wycombe Wanderers, before being included on the bench for a Premier League visit of Crystal Palace two months later.
An England Under-18 international who has been with Villa since Under-9 level, Broggio impressed throughout the 2024/25 campaign, appearing for the club in the FA Youth Cup, Vertu Trophy, Premier League 2 and UEFA Youth League - ending the season as Villa's joint top scorer in the latter with four goals and three assists in seven outings.
He was also a member of the Under-16 team that won the Premier League National Tournament in 2023.
MANAGER QUOTES
"Aston Villa went very young for their game with Crawley, they may do the same again, we will have to wait and see, but it is about what we do. We are at home, we know that we need to win to stay in the competition and we know that this competition means a lot to us as a football club after back to back wins at Wembley," Darren Ferguson said.
TICKET NEWS
The GH Display Stand and the Weston Homes London Road End will be closed for the game. Tickets are available to purchase at www.theposhtickets.com and via the Weston Homes Stadium Ticket Office.
COMPETITION RULES
If the game is level at the end of the 90 minutes, there will be a penalty shoot-out to determine the extra point. Following defeat to Leyton Orient on Matchday One, Posh sit bottom of the table so need to win the game to keep their hopes of qualifying alive.
KIT COLOURS
Posh will be in the home kit for the game. You can purchase the home kit here.
MATCH OFFICIAL
The referee for the game is Alan Young.
Our match preview is brought to you by:
