Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson acknowledges that his new-look team is still “a work in progress,” but he insists that won’t be an excuse for not securing victories. Posh faced a challenging start to the season, losing four key players and having to completely rebuild their defense. These growing pains were evident in their 2-0 home defeat to Huddersfield Town in Saturday’s League One opener, although Ferguson found positives in the performance.
Looking ahead, Ferguson plans to field a strong lineup for Tuesday’s first-round Carabao Cup tie against Oxford United (7.45 p.m. kickoff). While there will be some changes, they won’t be made to rest players, as it’s still early in the season.
This match offers Posh a chance for a small measure of revenge, as Oxford knocked them out in a League One play-off semi-final last season before earning promotion to the Championship. Oxford began their campaign in the second tier with an impressive 2-0 victory over Norwich City at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.
“I will pick what I believe is the strongest team for this game,” Ferguson stated. “There will be some changes, but not a huge amount. Players like Sam Curtis and Jack Sparkes need to get 90 minutes under their belts.”
Reflecting on Saturday’s match, Ferguson said, “We reviewed both the positives and negatives on Sunday. There were some good moments—we controlled the game and looked the better side when we missed two good chances at 0-0. But then we conceded, gave up another goal right before halftime, and in the second half, we didn’t get things right at all against a very aggressive team.”
Ferguson acknowledged that it will take time for some players to adapt to the team’s style of play. “It was the same last season; we didn’t really start to hit our stride until October. The players will get the same consistent message from us: we’re a work in progress, but we understand the importance of winning games.”
He also recognized the challenge ahead in the Carabao Cup tie against Oxford. “It’s obviously a tough tie for us. Oxford haven’t changed their formation from last season, but they’ve brought in some new players and delivered a fantastic performance and result on Saturday, so they’ll be full of confidence. We’ll certainly need to play at a high level to compete, and I’m confident we will.”
New captain Hector Kyprianou will remain on the sidelines due to a knee injury.
If the match is tied at the end of 90 minutes, the outcome will be decided by a penalty shootout. Posh has previous success in this format, having won the first two rounds on penalties last season before being eliminated in the third round by Mansfield Town, also via penalties.
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