West Ham United Under-21s have been drawn to face Peterborough United in round two of the Papa John’s Trophy.
The young Hammers, who topped Group A in the Southern section of the prestigious cup competition, will travel to the Weston Homes Stadium in early December for the exciting tie.
Managed by Darren Ferguson, Peterborough have made a flying start to the season and currently sit top of League One, making them the highest-ranked side in the competition.
While a date is still to be confirmed, round two matches will be played in the week commencing Monday 7 December.
West Ham's development squad have been in impressive form in the Papa John’s Trophy thus far, opening their 2020/21 campaign with a 3-1 win at Southend United’s Roots Hall stadium in September.
That match was settled by two stunning goals from Ademipo Odubeko and an injury-time lob from Conor Coventry, who went on to net a spectacular 30-yard strike in a subsequent 1-0 win at Colchester United’s JobServe Community Stadium.
The U21s’ most impressive result of all, however, arrived at Fratton Park earlier this month, where West Ham became the first team to defeat Portsmouth in the Papa John’s Trophy in over two-and-a-half years, winning 1-0 thanks to Kai Corbett’s early goal.
Buoyed by such results, the Hammers will travel to Peterborough with little to fear and all to play for, as they bid to reach the competition’s third round for the first time in the Academy’s history.
The Irons’ only other appearance at this stage came in 2017/18, when they lost out to a talented Luton Town team at Kenilworth Road.
The Papa John’s Trophy final will be played at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 14 March 2021.
