Chairman Darragh MacAnthony has urged the club's fans to prove their support for his Peterborough United revolution by turning up in their droves to the final two friendlies of the summer. Peterborough United host Premier League side West Ham before entertaining European champions Manchester United.
And Darragh MacAnthony admits he would be devastated if there were rows of empty seats for either match. He also defended the club's pricing policy for the matches.
Darragh MacAnthony said: "When we did our budget for the upcoming season, it was of course reliant on selling out these two games, due to both teams bringing a first XI and our fans, who after 10 weeks without football, would be able to come and see how the new League One Posh XI would fare against strong Premiership teams including the current champions of Europe.
"I am not looking to cash in on fans and I know there has been certain negativity about the pricing for these games. However I feel I have not let down the fans this summer as illustrated by:
Turning down a record bid for our top scorer, Aaron Mclean, when most chairmen would have capitulated to player power and financial gain.
Not selling any of our key young players.
Freezing the price of our season tickets for our League One campaign and introducing finance measures for buying these tickets.
Backing the manager by landing all his targets again.
"I have no complaints about funding the club monthly as this is key in order for us to get to the Premiership in the long term, but it would personally devastate me to see London Road empty for these two massive games.
"I am once more asking the fans to come out and show their incredible support as it's important to me and of course the manager and the players.
"I have even seen comments on local forums from some fans encouraging others not to bother coming as these games mean nothing etc, but trust me they do mean a lot to the club and bringing these types of teams are never cheap, hence the importance of selling them out.
"So tomorrow I would love to see thousands of fans bring their friends and families down to London Road and help us build towards the start of another promotion-chasing season that I think will end in some long overdue silverware for our club."
West Ham have pledged to bring all their fit first-team stars including internationals Dean Ashton, Freddie Ljungberg, Matthew Upson and Craig Bellamy.
Peterborough United have so far sold just over 3,000 tickets and 9,000 for the Manchester United match.
