With Jack Taylor and Oliver Norburn moving on from Peterborough United, more transfer outgoings expected and off-field drama making headlines, expectations at Posh aren’t quite as sky-high as they usually are when it comes to the promotion race.
Still bruised by their calamitous playoff collapse at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday, Darren Ferguson has had to pick up the pieces and push forward as the permanent manager at the helm again.
Winning 1-0 away at Reading on the opening day might well begin to raise expectations at Posh, Ephron Mason-Clark’s looped header just before the half-time interval at the Royals sealing all three points.
New faces in the door at Peterborough stood out from this opening contest, Nicholas Bilokapic – who has recently joined from Huddersfield Town – starred in goal as Posh effectively shut-out the likes of Andy Carroll. In midfield, former Exeter City man Archie Collins ran himself ragged for the cause to ensure his new employers dominated the game in the centre of the park.
A real team effort won Posh the battle at Reading, Darren Ferguson’s men starting the season with a narrow win.
Reading will hope to bounce back from this first game setback soon, Ruben Selles cutting a frustrated figure on the sidelines throughout as new Royals boss.
Three points in our opening game of the season! 🤩
Full-time score brought to you by Durable Roofline.
🔵⚪ 0-1 🎩 | #RDGPET pic.twitter.com/bKZrlDUVmB
— Peterborough United (@theposh) August 5, 2023
The Yellow Block Podcast Reaction
Nathan Brown, who regularly features on the Yellow Block podcast, saw the result as a ‘hugely positive one’ to kickstart the third tier campaign for Posh.
He said: “The result was a hugely positive one, it was set up to be a banana skin with the off-field issues both clubs have had.”
“Not to mention, winning your opening league fixture is always great for confidence and building some momentum. It was a great Saturday all round for the lads, hopefully this can be the start of some consistency.”
Speaking to other members of the Posh focussed podcast, they weren’t so openly complimentary of the 1-0 win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
The Yellow Block further stated: “It’s too easy to be making an assessment of the team, but a stronger opposition would have punished us for the chances we gave away yesterday.Â
“Bilokapic does look great, made some strong saves and held the defence accountable for their mistakes.”Â
Upcoming Fixtures For Peterborough United
Tomorrow night sees Darren Ferguson’s men kick off their Carabao Cup campaign for this season, Swindon Town the visitors to Cambridgeshire who will uniquely play their first game of the season at Posh after having their League Two match postponed due to rain.
Charlton Athletic will then visit Posh for League One action a couple of days after, Dean Holden’s Addicks hoping they can show off why they’re fancied for promotion against Darren Ferguson’s team.
Expectations might well begin to grow at Peterborough if Posh can put together a positive sequence of results in the next few weeks to come, especially if they manage to overcome Charlton.
