Grant McCann's men entertain Blackburn Rovers at the ABAX Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Peterborough United return to Sky Bet League One action on Saturday afternoon with promotion-chasing Blackburn Rovers the opponents at the ABAX Stadium (3pm) and with Tony Mowbray’s men sitting in fourth place and Posh in seventh place in the table, it is a hugely attractive game for both sets of supporters.
After 2-0 victory over Southend United in the second round of the Checkatrade Trophy in midweek and a cup replay in the Emirates FA Cup against Woking to look forward to on Tuesday evening, the league is now the priority for Grant McCann’s men.
Blackburn threw away a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Crewe Alexandra at Ewood Park in the Emirates FA Cup last week and also lost two players to suspension including former Norwich City winger Elliott Bennett.
TEAM NEWS
Posh are without the services of Junior Morias (thigh) and Liam Shephard (groin) for the clash with Rovers. Shephard suffered a reaction to one of the drills in training with the Sports Science team and could well be out for a further couple of weeks. “It is a blow for Liam and frustrating for him because he is desperate to come back but that sometimes happens in football,” McCann commented.
Ryan Tafazolli and Leo Da Silva Lopes both trained on Friday, but McCann confirmed he will assess their fitness levels ahead of the game. Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray will be without midfield pair Rekeem Harper and Elliott Bennett, who are out for one and four games respectively.
However, the boss will be boosted by the possible return to action of Craig Conway, who will travel down to Cambridgeshire with the team. Ben Gladwin is still out with a knee injury and the game comes too soon for defender Darragh Lenihan to make his return to action. Harry Chapman is another who's out until 2018.
MCCANN QUOTES
“Blackburn have a strong squad and a big budget for the league. They were in the Championship last term and have kept a lot of those players and also added to them, but our focus is on ourselves and making sure we have a fresh XI to face them. We have one or two knocks, but we will assess them in the morning.”
FROM THE OPPOSITION
"We have a tough run of games coming up, starting at Peterborough. Grant puts his team out to play how he used to play. He used to like getting on the ball and playing the ball with his left foot, playing there a long time. They certainly have talented individuals like [Marcus] Maddison and [Gwion] Edwards on the other side of the pitch. They're a good footballing team with obvious threats. We will go there, be positive and play on the front foot and aim to get the three points again,” Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray said.
TICKET NEWS
Tickets can be purchased online at www.theposhtickets.com, via the Ticketmaster hotline 0844 847 1934 (calls cost 7ppm plus your network access fee) and in person at the ABAX Stadium Box Office.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE
The match referee is Nicholas Kinseley.
MINUTES’ APPLAUSE
There will be a minute’s applause in memory of supporter Andy Mills who sadly passed away last month. This will take place as soon as the referee blows the whistle to start the second half. We urge both sets of supporters to participate in this applause.