Peterborough United travel to Birmingham City as the look to pick up their first points of the season, in their fourth attempt.
Birmingham City -Vs- Peterborough United
Venue: St. Andrews
Date: 1st September, 2012
Kick-off: 3pm
Grant McCann`s wonder free kick earned Posh a point in this fixture last season, Posh will be hoping to go one better this time out against Lee Clark`s Birmingham City.
The Blues welcome Posh to St. Andrews as they also look to kick start their season. They`ve picked up just one point in their first three games, and find themselves only one place above Posh in the Championship table. This will be the first time Lee Clark has faced the Posh since the playoff final, where Clark took charge of Huddersfield, and we all know what happened that day!!
TEAM NEWS
Peterborough United
Posh will now be without Paul Taylor, after he completed his sideways move to Ipswich Town before transfer deadline day. Tommy Rowe is still injured and is a few weeks away from returning to training. Dave Hibbert, as ever, won`t be involved as he continues to try and return from a long lasting injury.
New signing Kane Ferdinand also won`t be in the squad, as he didn`t complete his move to the club in time for the noon deadline set for registering players. Ferdinand has been Posh`s only deadline day signing, and if they make any more before 11pm tonight (Friday), they will also not be able to register for the match.
Danny Swanson could be pushing for a start after his recent good performances, while Nat Knight-Percival could make his league debut if Shaun Brisley doesn`t completely recover from the knock he picked up against Reading in midweek.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Daniel Kearns are all still not up to full fitness and wont feature in the match. Craig Alcock, Lee Frecklington and Gaby Zakuani will all return to the squad after being rested in midweek.
Vital Posh predicts the starting line-up could be:
Lewis
Alcock, Brisley, Zakuani, Ntlhe
Bostwick
Swanson McCann
Boyd
Barnett, Tomlin
Birmingham City
New full back Paul Caddis managed to sign in time to be registered to play against Posh on Saturday, but Adam Rooney went to Swindon as part of the Caddis deal, so he won`t feature.
STATS & FACTS
Both sides will be looking to win their first game of the season, but the last three games between the sides have ended in 1-1 draws.
Posh have never won a game at St. Andrews. And half of the 12 matches between these sides have ended in draws.
HOTSHOTS
Peterborough United
2 – Boyd
2 – Tomlin
1 – Bostwick
1 – Newell
Birmingham City
2 – King
2 – Zigic
2 – Lovenkrands
1 – Caldwell
PREDICTION
6 of the 12 matches between these sides have been draws, and we expect the same to happen on Saturday.
Both sides have started poorly and will be looking for a win, and may end up cancelling eachother out.
Vital Posh predicts a 2 – 2 draw.
REFEREE
Gavin WARD takes charge of this match.
Last time Ward officiated a Posh match, was away at Southampton last season, in a game Posh lost 2-1. He also sent off Posh midfielder Lee Frecklington in that match up
He will be assisted by Antony Coggins and Kevin Mattocks.
The fourth official is Ollie Yates.
UP THE POSH Follow me on Twitter: @TommLeaa
Photos/images courtesy of www.theposhpics.com
Join Vital Peterborough United!
With news and views, along with a forum, polls and article comments, everything you need in a fans site is right here!
Vital Posh is 100% interactive. Not only can you have your say on the articles and the forum but you can also suggest an article or a poll so you can air your views.
So why not join Vital Posh today?
It’s easy to REGISTER HERE. Simply click the link and enjoy getting involved!.
Message Board
To visit the message board, click here.
Get involved
This website is your website and we are looking for people to help run the site. Do you go to most of the games and have an opinion? Why not write a match report? Perhaps you are a budding journalist or even just someone who is very opinionated? Well why not join our team? If this interests you please contact Vital Posh at peterborough@vitalfootball.co.uk .
Vital Peterborough is also on:
