Sky Sports’ decision to select Bristol Rovers’ home game against Peterborough United for coverage on the ‘Sky Sports Football’ channel back in November may now seem slightly misjudged with this Sunday’s clash at the Mem now a pretty significant game down at the bottom end of the League One table.
The two teams currently sit in 19th and 18th place respectively and are separated by just two points while the Gas boast a game in hand with Rovers’ advantage over the relegation zone currently standing at four points ahead of the weekend.
In recent years, Posh have very much been a promotion-chasing side in League One with Darren Ferguson’s team finishing in the play-off positions in both of their last two seasons since a one-year stay in the Championship. However, this campaign has gone badly wrong so far.
There’s plenty of time for Peterborough to pull themselves out of danger, but they have been dragged into an extremely uncomfortable position to the extent that Ferguson declared that this current group of players was the “softest” he’d had in an interview which went semi-viral after a 5-1 defeat at Lincoln City last weekend.
Prior to a much-needed 1-0 home win over Wigan Athletic on Tuesday night, Posh had gone on a run of just one win in 12 league matches which has seen them sucked in. But, in reality, how concerning is Peterborough’s current predicament going into a big game at the Mem on Sunday?
Bristol Live spoke to the Peterborough Telegraph’s sports editor Alan Swann to get the latest lowdown on all things Posh ahead of this weekend…
Why has this season been such a struggle for Peterborough after finishing in the play-offs once again last term?
Selling/losing so many star men was always going to make life difficult this season. Last time out Posh started just two players (Archie Collins and Ricky-Jade Jones) who had started the final game of last season, a play-off semi-final defeat to Oxford United. The summer signings have not fired, while injuries to key players (Kwame Poku, Hector Kyprianou and Mahamadou Susoho) have had a big impact.
What has been the reaction to Darren Ferguson’s semi-viral post-match interview after the Lincoln defeat last week?
Ferguson’s reaction was received well by fans and the chairman. The response from the players, who he described as ‘soft and shambolic,’ was also strong four days later in our next game.
Where have Peterborough particularly struggled this season?
Our defensive record speaks for itself though. 52 goals conceded, the most in League One.
Who are the Peterborough players to look out for?
Manchester City loanee midfielder Mo Susoho has been injured for almost the entire season so far so is keen to make up for lost time. He scored the winning goal on his second start for the club last time out. Striker Ricky-Jade Jones must be the fastest player in the EFL.
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Would you call this Peterborough’s biggest game of the season so far given where both teams are in the table?
No, but last Tuesday against Wigan probably was. If that game hadn’t been won the relegation alarm bells would have been ringing loudly. Sunday is big as it’s the first of four successive away games and the one we have the most chance of winning, on paper at least. Posh won their first two away games of the League One season, but have picked up just two points in 10 matches since.
How do you see the game going and what’s your predicted team?
I can’t see it being anything other than a tense, low-scoring game with little quality. Club captain Hector Kyprianou might not be involved as he could leave in this transfer window, but it will probably be unchanged from the Wigan win.
Bilokapic; Johnston, Hughes, Nevett, Edun; Collins, Susoho; Conn-Clarke; Odoh, Lindgren, Jones.