Ashley Young makes feelings clear after teenage son Tyler was unused substitute in FA Cup clash between Everton and Peterborough

Ashley Young took to social media on Friday morning, just hours after Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson defended his decision to leave Tyler Young on the bench for their FA Cup clash against Everton.

Everton secured their place in the FA Cup fourth round as goals from Beto and Iliman Ndiaye sealed a 2-0 win over League One strugglers Peterborough.

But the big talking point from Thursday's game surrounded teenage midfielder Tyler Young, who was an unused substitute for Peterborough following weeks of talk around his potential outing at Goodison Park.

The 17-year-old, who is the son of Everton full-back Ashley Young, could be seen warming up on the touchline ahead of a moment that would have marked the first father-and-son pair to face each other in FA Cup history.

However, Darren Ferguson decided against bringing on Young as Peterborough pushed for an equaliser.

"It was very difficult to leave Tyler on the bench, I wanted him on, but I've got to get a forward on to get a goal," Ferguson said in his post-match press conference. "One of their players had a pop at me which was out of order."

Ferguson, who said he "had to do what was best for my team", has received criticism for his decision.

And on the morning after Everton's victory over Peterborough, Ashley Young appeared to make his feelings clear in a social media post. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, he simply wrote: "GUTTED……"

That could, of course, refer to Sean Dyche's sacking on Thursday but many fans have assumed that Young was reacting to his son not featuring against the Toffees on Thursday.

Here's how fans on social media reacted to Young's post.

One said: "Out of order mate, no harm throwing him on for last 10," and another wrote: "What a shame. Still you must be a proud father."

A third commented: "Understandable, but this is professional sport - everyone has a job to do."

A fourth wrote: "It wasn’t a perfect scenario but testament to and your son’s hard work to even be in that situation. Might not go down in the record books but that is still a special memory that will last a lifetime."

A fifth added: "You have every right to be gutted, but that's football. At 1-0 the game was still open and Boro went for the draw/win. If it was 2-0 and they still had a sub left best bet he would've brought him on."

Ashley and Tyler Young ahead of kick-off. Image credit: Getty

Ahead of kick-off, former Manchester United winger Young said sharing a pitch with his teenage son would "top everything I've done in my career".

Speaking to talkSPORT in October, the 39-year-old said: "I’m hoping and praying that it could be in the next couple of years. To play alongside him or play against him would be unbelievable."

He added: "Obviously to play alongside my son would be a dream come true. You see LeBron [James, with his son Bronny] in basketball. I’ve done my homework, it hasn't been done since 1980 I think, which is obviously a long time ago."