PHIL Parkinson praised City’s close relationship with West Ham as he prepares to throw Josh Cullen straight in at Peterborough.

The 19-year-old midfielder trained with his new team-mates for the first time yesterday after signing on loan initially until March 12, although that could yet be extended..

Cullen, who made his senior debut at Liverpool in August, was among the West Ham substitutes in Tuesday’s FA Cup win over Jurgen Klopp’s side.

But he has been looking to gain experience on loan and was happy to hook up with fellow Hammers’ academy graduate Reece Burke at City.

Parkinson said: “He’s someone we’ve been monitoring. (Chief scout) Tim Breacker has watched him a lot playing for West Ham under-21s.

“We’ve got a good relationship with West Ham with the Reece Burke signing and I’m delighted to get him in.

“He’s been on the bench but he wanted to get out on play and they were very keen for that to happen as well. Fortunately for us they decided to let him come up here.

“Reece has done well for us, we’ve looked after him well and we’ve liaised with them regularly.

“I’ve got to say I’ve been impressed with West Ham all along. It looks like they are a club who are starting to produce some really good young players.

“They’ve got the lad Martin Samuelsen at Peterborough, Reece Oxford who looks like he’s going to be a top player and I’m pleased that we’ve got two very good youngsters with us.

“When you’ve been on the bench at West Ham, giving up that opportunity to be involved in the Premier League to go out somewhere and play shows his character.”

With Lee Evans back from his three-game ban, Cullen could become his latest partner in the troublesome central midfield area.

Parkinson added: “Josh has got a lot of attributes.

“Modern-day midfield players have got to be able to do a bit of everything. The days of ‘he’s this, he’s that, he’s a holding type’ have gone.”

Parkinson was at London Road on Wednesday to see Peterborough take West Brom all the way in their FA Cup replay before going out on penalties.

But the City boss, who expects Posh to shuffle the pack, is more concerned with how his own team respond from their poor show at leaders Burton.

Parkinson is demanding a whole lot more across the board.

“I’m looking for the performance level to go up considerably, whatever team we pick, whatever system we play and whatever the substitutions.

“The players are frustrated with themselves because we’ve got more quality on the ball than we showed.

“We do emphasise the work ethic of the side but equally it’s that bit of composure needed in pressure situations during games.

“Peterborough might be jaded and we can use that in our favour but let’s do what we can to help ourselves.

“Let’s not be looking for outside influences to help us. We’ve got to produce a far better display, both individually and collectively, than we did last week.

“We’ve got to put more demands on ourselves to play better.”

Skipper Stephen Darby watched Peterborough’s FA Cup exploits and was impressed with what he saw.

Darby said: “They looked sharp and dangerous but that’s what the cup games do when you play teams from a higher level.

“We’ve experienced that over the last few years. You tend to up your game and Peterborough put in a great performance.”

But Darby is not expecting any hangover from the home side tomorrow on a ground where City have never won.

“It can be difficult to adjust back to the league,” he added. “Nobody knows that better than us.

“But I’m sure Graham Westley will have them up for the game. We know the character he is after facing his teams over the past few years.

“It’s important we try and bounce back from a disappointing result.

“It is frustrating and we’ve got to learn from these games.

“We’ve had all week to train and that dressing room is eager now to go out there and put on a proper performance.

“It’s been a long wait and we’ll be raring to go.”