A look ahead to the Sky Bet League One fixture with Wigan Athletic at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
Peterborough United are back in Sky Bet League One action on Saturday afternoon with a home fixture against Wigan Athletic at the Weston Homes Stadium (3pm) with Darren Ferguson’s men coming up against the one side that have defeated them in the league since September.
Shaun Maloney’s men deserve enormous credit for the way they have gone about their business this season despite off the field issues that were overhanging from the previous campaign. Posh go into the game on the back of a rare goalless draw against Lincoln City last time out in the league with progress in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy secured on Tuesday evening.
TEAM NEWS
Goalkeeper Jed Steer returned to the club on a deal until the end of the season on deadline day and will be added to the squad while Michael Olakigbe could be in line for his first appearance for the club after agreeing a loan switch from Brentford.
Ephron Mason-Clark completed a permanent move to Coventry City on deadline day, but has returned on-loan until the end of the season so will continue in his role as part of the attacking options for Posh. Will Blackmore and Kwame Poku are both side-lined through injury, but the latter is still on track to return in the next few weeks.
Maloney will be unable to call upon the services of Scottish midfielder Scott Smith, who is yet to make an appearance this year as he continues his spell on the sidelines The Latics recently completed the loan signing of Queens Park Rangers striker Charlie Kelman and the 22-year-old should be involved in the squad, but Charlie Wyke did depart for Rotherham United while Callum Lang left for Portsmouth.
ONE TO WATCH
Northern Ireland international Jordan Jones (pictured below) is entering his first season at the DW Stadium after arriving from Rangers FC on a three-year deal in the summer. A Middlesbrough academy graduate, Jones made his breakthrough into senior football with Kilmarnock after signing for the Rugby Park side in 2016. Jones impressed for Killie, playing over 100 games for the Club, while his performances for the Scottish side saw him secure his first senior international cap for Northern Ireland in November 2017.
After agreeing to join Rangers in January 2019, Jones made the permanent switch to Ibrox in June of the same year and featured 15 times in a season impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite scoring his first goal for Rangers early in the 2020-21 season, Jones moved on loan to Sunderland and scored three times in 19 league appearances for the Black Cats last term, helping the Wearsiders to finish in the Sky Bet League One Play-Off places. This summer, Jones scored his first goal for his country in a 3-0 win against Malta. The exciting wide player made his Latics debut against his former club Sunderland on the opening day of the 2021/22 Sky Bet League One campaign, before earning his first start in the first round of the Carabao Cup at Hull City.
FROM THE MANAGER
“Wigan are a very good side and they are a side that are difficult to play against. We have had a number of meetings with the players because they have a clear pattern of play and we need to be on it if we are to contain them, but we are looking forward to it. Obviously, they beat us 2-1 at their place so we know that they can cause problems,” Darren Ferguson said.
TICKET NEWS
Tickets are on sale at www.theposhtickets.com and via the Weston Homes Ticket Office. The Deskgo Stand is closed for this fixture. Wigan fans will be accommodated in the away section of the north stand with just over 300 tickets sold.
POSH+
You will be able to watch the game if you are an overseas subscriber with £10 match passes available now. Audio passes are available for £5 with commentary from Nilesh Patel and Chris Dowsett.
- Click here to purchase your Posh+ monthly pass or find the package that works for you for this fixture.
HEAD TO HEAD
Jonson Clarke-Harris (pictured below) netted twice as Posh beat Wigan during the promotion-winning campaign of 2020-2021 with the second a hotly disputed penalty kick.
A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS
Kell Watts is on-loan at Wigan Athletic from Premier League side Newcastle United and spent time on-loan in PE2. Other players to have played for both clubs include Callum Elder, Scott Wootton, Shaquille Coulthirst, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Peter Kennedy, Craig Morgan, Drewe Broughton, Jimmy Bullard (pictured below), Leo Da Silva Lopes, Ivan Toney, Jack Collison, Craig Ramage, Ben Amos and Trevor Benjamin.
KIT COLOURS
Posh will be in their home kit for the game.
MATCH OFFICIAL
Daniel Middleton is the match referee.