Peterborough Manager Ferguson Considers Young Family FA Cup Encounter with Everton

Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson has indicated he feels “under a bit of pressure” to ensure their FA Cup match against Premier League team Everton becomes a family occasion. This follows Tyler Young’s signing of a one-year contract with Peterborough during the summer, after previously playing for QPR. The draw for the third round presented the possibility of Ashley Young, a player for Everton, competing on the same field as his 18-year-old son, Tyler. Ashley Young, the 39-year-old former England international, shared his thoughts on X, stating: “Wow…dreams might come true,”. Speaking to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Ferguson commented: “I don’t think it’s ever happened. Ash has put me under a bit of pressure there. I’ll have to find a way of getting Tyler involved.” The young player, Young, has made only one first-team appearance for Posh to date, entering as a substitute in the 63rd minute during a 2-0 EFL Trophy win against Stevenage in October. Ferguson, who is the son of Sir Alex Ferguson, the renowned former manager of Manchester United, remarked: “It’s a great story; let’s deal with that when it comes around. Ash is still playing, he’s had a fantastic career and now Tyler is just starting his,”. He added: “These are the kind of stories the FA Cup does bring up and it would be another good one.” This season, Ashley Young has visited Peterborough to observe his son playing. Peterborough’s previous encounter with Everton was a single match, a 2-1 home loss in the League Cup’s second round in 2006. In that game, Trevor Benjamin scored an equalizer before Tim Cahill secured a late winning goal for the Toffees. Ferguson’s high-scoring team, which reached round five in the 2021-22 season, aims to advance further in this year’s competition during their visit to Goodison Park on the weekend of 11-12 January. However, the Scottish manager emphasized that the nine League One fixtures scheduled before the cup tie held significantly greater importance. Ferguson stated: “It’s about time we got a decent one. It was getting down to the last few teams and I was thinking ‘oh, we’re going to get a terrible draw here’ and then Everton came up and we’ll take that one,”. He continued: “We can all look forward to it – fans, club, players – and this is why I put a real emphasis to the team when we were preparing for the first round and then the second round.” “I’ll try and make sure they’re very motivated for that third round, but the bigger picture is we’ve got nine far more important games before then.” Ferguson further commented: “I’m sure everyone is talking about it in the dressing room, but that’s the least important game we’ve got.” He concluded: “It’s a game we’ll look forward to, we’re not just going there for a day out, we’re going up there to try and get through – but if I have to put a level of importance [on it], it’s nowhere near the next nine games.” Peterborough currently holds the 13th position in the third tier, having qualified for the play-offs in the previous two seasons. Only Wycombe, the current leaders, have surpassed their total of 32 goals. Their upcoming match is scheduled for Wednesday, at home against Burton Albion, who are at the bottom of the league.