Today the Imps will hope to overcome a traditional Achilles heel to win at the Weston Homes Stadium, writes Tom Morton.
Before we get into the football. Condolences to Posh Manager Darren Ferguson whose mother, Lady Cathy Ferguson, passed away at the age of 84 yesterday.
The last time we took all three points away to Peterborough United was in 2006 and before that 1986. It’s not that we can’t seem to beat the Posh (although our record in L1 is a bit troublesome) but we just seem to particularly struggle away from home.
And a win would be worth it. Peterborough currently sit sixth in the table, just three points ahead of us – so a win today will see us overtake them on goal difference. It’s too early in the season, of course, to talk about positions but it does feel – despite our injury woes – we are one good result away from establishing ourselves into the top third in the run-up to the new year.
Posh had some significant squad changes over the summer, with thirteen players leaving the club. That included former-captain Oliver Norburn (to Blackpool for an undisclosed fee) who featured extensively in Peterborough’s attempts to avoid Championship relegation as well as last season’s Playoff push. They also lost bench players like Ben Thompson and Dan Butler.
Inbound players, then, have been mostly bench or development players as well. Such as Jacob Wakeling who signed from League Two’s Swindon Town on a three-year deal. Two names who are featuring on the starting lineup are wing-back Peter Kioso and goal-keeper Nicholas Bilokapic. Kioso, on loan from Rotherham, has a good background having developed through loan periods in the national league and leagues one and two before featuring briefly in the championship for both Luton and Rotherham.
Bilokapic is a more unusual signing on paper. The twenty-one-year-old has clearly impressed manager Darren Ferguson, but so far has very limited senior experience – having played just eight times for Huddersfield and twice for Hartlepool (on loan) since 2020. That said, he seems to have settled well (despite a howler against Northampton).
Peterborough have been in mixed form recently. After their playoff run last season, they appeared to start strong with three opening wins. But that was followed by three losses and since then they’ve alternated wins and draws each week (slightly worryingly, for the pattern to continue they would win today!). They held Bolton, a top-six team, to a draw last month, but then failed to find a winner against struggling Carlisle in the week.
Tactically expect Peterborough to line up 4-2-3-1. As with last season, their line is led by Jonson Clarke-Harris. The highly experienced striker has ample experience at this level, but really found his form on joining the Posh in 2020. In the third tier he is worth twenty to thirty goals a season and of course, is a real threat.
Expect them to have lots of possession and put lots of pressure on our back line. Against Carlisle and Bristol, they had 15 shots. On Tuesday night the Cumbrians had to pull out some last-ditch defending. Another area to watch is set pieces, with some really well-drilled approaches that I’ve seen in highlights.
At the back, Peterborough are as solid as you’d expect from a top-table side and we’ll need to work hard to generate chances. Many of the goals they concede are lucky chances (Carlisle’s equaliser was a horrid deflection, for example) and they close down attacking pressure very well. Early balls into the box will be important.
Despite their threat up top, and our own woes in that department, Peterborough have only scored two more goals than us (and played an extra game). Which is pretty promising. One thing that does often happen, though, is that games with the Posh can be high-scoring. Since our return to the third tier, we’ve played six times and seen twenty goals. We’ve also only seen one win (at the Bank in Jan 2020). It’s definitely time to turn the tables.
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