Peterborough United's young players 'didn't let anyone down' in EFL Trophy defeat to Colchester, insists Darren Ferguson

Having already qualified afforded the Posh boss the chance to give young full-back Harley Mills and number ten Donay O’Brien-Brady their full debuts with fellow 18-year-old full-back James Dornelly also starting.

The match also saw Jeando Fuchs play 45 minutes on his return from injury and Malik Mothersille was given the opportunity of his first 90 minutes in a Posh shirt.

Posh were beaten 1-0 away at Colchester though but still went through as group winners, with Colchester finishing as runners-up.

Posh will find out their opponents in the second round on Friday (November 24) at 6pm.

Ferguson said: “The second half was better than the first. We had more intensity and we were more of a threat without providing moments of real quality.

"We were too passive in the first half. We felt they were going to play a diamond and we spoke about how we were going to combat that but we weren’t aggressive enough.

“Apart from the first five to ten minutes, we didn't offer much going forward, we got to a point and couldn’t find anything after that, which was disappointing.

“We were pushing at the end but there were still lots of positives. Jeando getting 45 minutes was massive for us. He wanted to carry on but we have to stick of the plan. We’ll look to get him 60 minutes next week.

“I needed to see if our young players can step up, that was pretty much their first team. They didn’t let anyone down tonight. There was Harley Mills and James Dornelly. Donay found it a little more difficult because there wasn’t so much space in the middle of the park and then Will Van Lier came on and did well. He’s done well in the last few weeks and has stepped up, which is pleasing, and that’s why he got an opportunity. Then Kai Corbett did really well when he came on, he had an impact on the game.

“There were two or three and maybe more that needed 90 minutes, Malik was rusty and he needs a lot of games.

“I’m pleased that the squad got my message that we wanted to win the first two and get into the next round, which we are and we won the group comfortably plus I got the opportunity to play young players in this match, which I wanted. We can put that to bed now.

“I want to try and win this tournament now and we’ll see where the players are in terms of what teams I pick.”

Posh return to league action on Saturday as they host Burton Albion on Saturday (November 25).