St Ives Town manager Ricky Marheineke has boosted his firepower by snapping up a highly-rated Hunts starlet.

The Hunts Post: St Ives Town manager Ricky Marheineke.St Ives Town manager Ricky Marheineke. (Image: Archant)

Hot Peterborough United prospect Kasey Douglas, who is from Huntingdon, has joined the Saints on a work experience loan deal.

Sixteen year-old Douglas became the fifth youngest debutant in Peterborough’s Football League history when appearing in a Checkatrade Trophy clash against Barnet as a substitute back in November.

He has now followed in the footsteps of another Posh talent, Morgan Penfold, by gaining senior experience with Saints in the Southern League Premier Division.

“Kasey has great ability and a lot of pace,” said Marheineke. “He has been very successful in the youth team at Posh, where he has scored a lot of goals.

“We’re short on attacking options at the moment with Dubi Ogbonna out injured so it is an ideal move.

“Kasey is still a first-year scholar so has a lot of learning to do, but a spell in senior football will hopefully be of benefit to him and us.

“We had Morgan with us for a couple of months and he did brilliantly before going back to Posh after signing a pro deal.”

Douglas will go straight into the Saints’ squad when entertain relegation battlers Cirencester at ProEdge Westwood Road tomorrow, 3pm.

It’s a match in which Marheineke hopes to be successful while doing two other local teams a favour.

A home victory would go down well with tenants Cambridge City and near neighbours St Neots Town, who are also fighting to stay up.

Marheineke added: “Hopefully we can do Cambridge City and St Neots a favour as we want both of those clubs to stay up.

“Some managers might enjoy seeing their local rivals struggling, but that’s not how I look at it. We need the big derby games and the revenue that they bring in.”