Why Peterborough United missed out on a Sammie Szmodics windfall and the need to finish in the top four in League One

Posh inserted the unusual clause in the transfer that took Szmodics to Blackburn Rovers for £2 million in August, 2022. The 28 year-old has scored 30 goals (24 in the Championship) for a Rovers team who have been battling against relegation this season, but was overlooked for the player-of-the-year in favour of Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville.

MacAnthony also used the latest edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast to reveal a windfall that did come his club’s way and another one that might still arrive.

"Sammie was absolutely robbed by the people who voted for that award,” MacAnthony stated. “He’s scored 30 goals in a struggling side so you can’t give the award to anyone else.

"We would have picked up £100k if he’d won it as well. Still we might get a decent sell-on fee if he gets a move to the Premier League. Clubs would be buying a player in his prime who would score goals. Blackburn could get between £11 million and £14 million for him in my opinion. It would be closer to £25 million if he was 22.

"We also get £100k if he plays competitively for Ireland and he should have done by now. He got injured when he was picked.

"We will get £25k from Mansfield from the Christy Pym deal after their promotion and it would be about £200k from Ipswich re the Jack Taylor transfer if they go up. The payment for Jack is linked to the number of matches he plays so it’s not as high as it might have been.”

MacAnthony believes it’s vital his own players secure a fourth-place finish in League One to guarantee a home match in the second leg of a play-off semi-final. A point from Saturday’s fixture at Bristol Rovers would probably do it.

"We’ve lost our last two play-off semi-finals after playing away second and when you are facing a huge crowd like we did at Hillsborough it can make a huge difference,” MacAnthony added. "But we beat MK in my first experience of the play-offs when playing at home second.

"We need to get the fatigue out of our system before then, but we will continue to be brave. The closeness of the squad will help them get through the tough times.”