Posh boss Ferguson ponders Young FA Cup date with Everton dad

Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson says he is “under a bit of pressure” to make their FA Cup tie at Premier League club Everton a family affair.

The third-round draw raised the prospect of Everton’s Ashley Young being on the same pitch as his 18-year-old son Tyler.

“Wow…dreams might come true,” former England international Ashley Young, 39, posted on X.

Ferguson told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: “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.”

Teenager Young’s only first-team appearance for Posh so far came as a 63rd-minute substitute in a 2-0 EFL Trophy victory over Stevenage in October.

“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,” said Ferguson, son of legendary former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

“These are the kind of stories the FA Cup does bring up and it would be another good one.”

Peterborough have only played Everton once before, a 2-1 home defeat in the second round of the League Cup in 2006, when Trevor Benjamin equalised before Tim Cahill scored a late winner for the Toffees.

Having reached round five in 2021-22, Ferguson’s free-scoring side will be looking to continue their progress in this year’s competition when they visit Goodison Park over the weekend of 11-12 January.

The Scot, though, insisted that the nine League One games they have to play before then were far more important.

“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,” Ferguson said.

“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 added: “I’m sure everyone is talking about it in the dressing room, but that’s the least important game we’ve got.

“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 are 13th in the third tier, having reached the play-offs in the last two seasons – but only leaders Wycombe have scored more than their 32 goals.

Their next game is at home to bottom club Burton Albion on Wednesday.