Posh entertain Charlton Athletic at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
Peterborough United welcome Charlton Athletic to the Weston Homes Stadium for the first Sky Bet League One fixture in PE2 of the season on Saturday afternoon (3pm) with Darren Ferguson’s men looking to make it three wins from three following an away success at Reading and a Carabao Cup triumph over Swindon Town.
The Addicks, who are managed by former Posh defender Dean Holden, were knocked out of the cup by Newport County in midweek but started the campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over local rivals Leyton Orient at the Valley.
TEAM NEWS
Captain Ephron Mason-Clark is ‘touch and go’ for the clash with Charlton after missing the midweek penalty shoot-out success over the Robins due to a hamstring injury. Manager Darren Ferguson has intimated he ‘won’t risk anyone if they have a knock’ so the former Barnet man could miss the fixture with the Reds.
Defender Emmanuel Fernandez missed the league win at Reading due to illness, but featured for the under 21s in midweek and is back in the squad while goalkeeper Fynn Talley is also available again after missing a few days with illness.
Charlton rested a number of regulars for their cup-tie in Wales, so Alfie May and Corey Blackett-Taylor are among the players expected to come into the starting line-up. May scored an eye-catching double for Cheltenham Town against Posh last season.
ONE TO WATCH
Alfie May (pictured below) was courted by a host of clubs in the summer after making the decision to leave Cheltenham, where he had been a regular goal-scorer. May, who worked under Posh boss Darren Ferguson, at Doncaster Rovers is a hard-working front man, who has the habit for the spectacular as he showed in the win over Posh for Cheltenham when he scored from the half-way line.
FROM THE MANAGER
“Charlton played a back three when they came up against us last season and they have flexibility in their squad to go with a number of different formations on Saturday. They have recruited some good players at this level including Alfie May, who I know well, he is a good striker at this level. We are looking forward to it, it is the first home league game of the season, Charlton will bring quite a few and I am sure it will be a good atmosphere,” Darren Ferguson said.
FROM THE OPPOSITION
“We’ve got another game coming up at Peterborough on Saturday, which will be a tough game. There’s some really good players in that squad so it will be a big test for us. Jack Taylor is a top young prospect and a real coup for Ipswich to sign. Having said that, Peterborough have brought in Archie Collins, who I believe is a really good player, from Exeter.
“They’ve obviously kept hold of Jonson Clarke-Harris and they’ve got [Kwame] Poku still in there. [Ephron] Mason-Clark picked up an injury last week so we’ll see on that. I think [Hector] Kyprianou in midfield is a good player and they’ve kept hold of Ronnie Edwards - I’m going through quite a few now!
“I believe they’ve got a really good team. Darren’s been in and out really over the last couple of years but it’s a team he knows well and it’s a team that has been together for quite a while. We know their way of working, we know their style of play and we know where their threats are. I’m looking forward to seeing us going there and really stamping our authority on the game,” Dean Holden said.
PLAYED FOR BOTH
There have been quite a few players who have performed for both clubs over the years including goalkeeper Ben Alnwick, defender Grant Basey (pictured centre) and Conor Washington (pictured left), who is now at Derby County.
Others include; Izale McLeod, Nicky Ajose (pictured right), Bradley Allen, Ben Amos, Omar Bogle, Hogan Ephraim, Scott Houghton, Jonathan Obika, Ricky Otto, Scott McGleish, Erhun Oztumer, David Petrucci and Lee Power.
HEAD TO HEAD
Sammie Szmodics (pictured below) was on target as Posh beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 behind closed doors back in January 2021 at the Weston Homes Stadium. You can watch highlights from that game here.
Overall, Posh have a decent record against the Addicks, with no defeats in the last 10 fixtures in all competitions.
POSH+
Posh+ subscribers can listen to full-match commentary of the game via Chris Dowsett and Nilesh Patel. Non-subscribers can purchase an audio pass for £5, but it makes sense to buy an annual or monthly pass as it provides excellent value for money.
Full packages can be found here.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE
The match referee is Lee Swabey.