League action goes out the window as Peterborough United host Premiership Norwich City in the Third Round of the FA Cup.
Peterborough United -Vs- Norwich City
Venue: London Road
Date: 5th January, 2013
Kick-off: 3pm
Posh have a welcome break from the rigours of the Championship relegation fight as they look to start a rare cup run until Darren Ferguson.
Fergie has never had a decent Cup run during his time at Posh and is very keen to finally have one. Posh have lost out to Premiership opposition in each of the last four seasons in the third round!
It`s a big ask though as Posh face Norwich City who currently sit in 12th place in the Premiership while also not having any recognised senior strikers available for the match!
The Canaries will have two very familiar faces in their squad as both Russ Martin and Ryan Bennett are both expected to feature during the game.
TEAM NEWS
Peterborough United
Posh boss Darren Ferguson will be forced to change his team as he will be without the in-form strike pairing of Dwight Gayle (Cup tied) and Lee Tomlin (suspended) while central defender Gaby Zakuani is in Africa ahead of DR Congo`s campaign in the African Cup of Nations.
There are also a couple of other players with knocks but they are expected to recover in time for the Cup clash.
Shaun Brisley is expected to replace Zakuani while midfielders George Boyd and Danny Swanson will battle it out with seventeen year old Jaanai Gordon-Hutton for the two forward places.
Vital Posh predicts the starting line-up will be:
Olejnik
Bostwick, Brisley, Knight-Percival
Little, Ferdinand, Newell, Rowe
Kearns
Swanson, Boyd
Norwich City
Canaries manager Chris Hughton will start off with third choice goalkeeper Declan Rudd in goal and will tinker with the rest of his team for this Cup match.
Forwards Grant Holt and Steve Morison are both missing through hamstring and thigh injuries respectively while Steven Whittaker is also missing with a hip injury.
Bradley Johnson is back in contention after completing his ban while Elliott Ward, Jacob Butterfield, and Simon Lappin are all in the squad after returning from loan spells with Nottingham Forest, Bolton, and Cardiff respectively.
HOTSHOTS
Peterborough United
8 – Lee Tomlin
4 – Dwight Gayle
6 – George Boyd
4 – Michael Bostwick
Norwich City
4 – Grant Holt
4 – Anthony Pilkington
4 – Robert Snodgrass
3 – Russell Martin
3 – Sebastien Bassong
REFEREE
STUART ATTWELL takes charge of this match. To find out more details of the referee, click HERE.
He will be assisted by Andrew Garratt and Nick Hobbis.
The fourth official is Stephen Martin.
PREDICTION
With no recognised senior strikers available for Posh, it could be a very tough, long afternoon!
While Posh look to name a makeshift forward line, Norwich will look to freshen things up following a hectic Christmas period.
That freshness combined with what could be a toothless Posh attack makes this game look like an away banker.
Posh to lose: 0 – 2.
UP THE POSH Follow me on Twitter: @mwl1967
Photos/images courtesy of www.theposhpics.com.
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