Peterborough United -Vs- Coventry City
Venue: London Road
Date: 17th December, 2011
Kick-off: 3pm
Peterborough United entertain Coventry City on Saturday with both teams looking to start a winning run.
Posh have gone 5 games without a win while Coventry have only won twice this season with the last win back in mid-October.
TEAM NEWS
Peterborough United
Posh are without injured skipper Grant McCann for between 6 and 10 weeks following a knee injury he picked up in last weekends hard-fought 1-1 draw at Leicester City.
Manchester United loanee Ryan Tunnicliffe is favourite to fill McCann`s shoes but the youngster faces competition from Lee Frecklington, George Boyd and Lee Tomlin, who can all play at the base of the midfield diamond.
Right-back Mark Little is still out following an operation but loanee defender Scott Wootton is now back at Posh having recovered from his injury. Craig Alcock should retain his place after recovering from a knock in last weeks match.
Goalkeeper Joe Lewis continues in goal for the third game in a row following his recovery from the knee injury he sustained in last season Play-Off semi-final. He has, over the last 10 days, been having a trial at Premiership outfit QPR who are in the market for a new keeper following injuries picked up to their number one and two keepers.
Lee Frecklington was substituted against Leicester last week after picking up an injury, but has recovered and is battling young Irishman Daniel Kearns for a spot in midfield. Kearns has impressed every time he has come on as a substitute and it was his pass that sent Emile Sinclair away to cross the ball for Tomlin`s equaliser last weekend.
Paul Taylor has been playing with a cracked rib for the last two games but is expected to be fit.
Vital Posh predicts the starting line-up could be:
Lewis
Alcock, Bennett, Zakuani, Rowe
Frecklington, Tunnicliffe, Tomlin, Boyd
Taylor, Sinclair
Coventry City
The Sky Blues come to London Road without influential captain Sammy Clingan who is nursing a broken toe. One time Posh target Cody McDonald is also out with a knee injury which he picked up in last weekends 1-0 defeat to Hull City.
Former Posh player Clive Platt is expected to take McDonald place up front partnering Lukas Jutkiewicz.
Left-back Chris Hussey is expected to be back in contention after missing the last two games while fellow defender Richard Wood is also fit after missing last weekends match against Hull with cramp.
PRE-MATCH QUOTES
Peterborough United
Speaking about the young average age of the Posh team, Darren Ferguson said: “Having just two players over the age of 25 in a squad is pretty amazing,and it`s certainly not a handicap.
“Young players give a team energy. As long as they are good enough for the Championship that`s all that matters and my lads have proved that they are.
“You just have to look at the performances of players like Danny Kearns and Ryan Tunnicliffe in recent games to see that.
“They are not over-awed. They look like they belong at this level.”
Fergie is also cautious about the threat Coventry will pose: “Coventry may be bottom of the table, but that means nothing to me. It will be another difficult game and we will have to be at our best to get the right result. We lost to Doncaster Rovers when people expected us to win, so hopefully we can come out victorious on Saturday.
“If we beat Coventry we will be 15 points ahead of them. That`s one incentive for us to win tomorrow.
“We also want to pick up three points to give us a boost before some big games over Christmas and New Year.
“It won`t be easy tomorrow though, but if we defend as well as we did last week and play the football we are capable of playing then we have a chance.
“The loss of Grant is a blow, especially because we lose his set-pieces, but we have Ryan Tunnicliffe and Scott Wootton capable of filling in for him.
“If those two couldn`t pass the ball well they wouldn`t be at Manchester United.”
Coventry City
Boss Andy Thorn is confident City can escape the clutches of relegation: “We believe in ourselves and we`re going to stand up and, contrary to anything else that`s going on, we are going to try to do the club and supporters proud.
“If any player doesn`t want to be involved the easiest thing is to climb on the physio`s couch and stay there until the sun comes out.
“But we haven`t got people like that because they are giving 110 per cent. Some are naive and they make mistakes, but they are young boys and that`s going to happen.
“We`ll go there full of confidence regardless of what`s happened this season and we`ll be open and play our football and if it`s good enough it`s good enough.”
Thorn is predicting an open and exciting game and is aware of the Posh threat going forward: “We believe in ourselves and we`re going to stand up and, contrary to anything else that`s going on, we are going to try to do the club and supporters proud.
“If any player doesn`t want to be involved the easiest thing is to climb on the physio`s couch and stay there until the sun comes out.
“But we haven`t got people like that because they are giving 110 per cent. Some are naive and they make mistakes, but they are young boys and that`s going to happen.
“We`ll go there full of confidence regardless of what`s happened this season and we`ll be open and play our football and if it`s good enough it`s good enough.”
STATS & FACTS
Head to Head statistics between these two teams can be found HERE.
Peterborough United
Despite picking up a point last weekend in the hard-fought draw with Leicester, Posh slipped down one place to 17th place.
Five points and five places outside the relegation places, Posh need to go on a winning run again to shoot back up the table.
It`s been five matches without a win and Posh want a good result to see them go into the festive period on a high.
Posh have gone 21 matches without a clean sheet and 96 games without a 0-0 draw!
Last six matches:
WDDLLD
Last six home matches:
LWLWDL
Coventry City
Coventry have had a very disappointing season so far as they are currently in last place and already seven points from safety.
Only two wins all season says it all.
Away from home has been a disaster so far with just three points from a possible 30 points suggesting they aren`t good on their travels. Six goals scored with 18 conceded hints that Posh could increase the goal deficit even more if they play to their potential.
It`s been ten games without a win which is when City last kept a clean sheet. It has also been 17 games since a 0-0 draw.
Not to get the Coventry faithful worried but the club bottom at Christmas in the Championship, has gone on to be relegated to the third tier in 11 of the last 12 seasons!
Last six matches:
LLDLLL
Last six away matches:
LDDLLL
HOTSHOTS
Peterborough United
8 – McCann
6 – Taylor
5 – Tomlin
5 – Sinclair
5 – Frecklington
Coventry City
8 – Jutkiewicz
2 – Platt
7 players have scored 1 goal!
PREDICTION
Despite the defeats Coventry have been suffering, they have only been losing by the odd goal so it suggests things are slowly turning round in their favour.
Posh have also been losing and winning games by the odd goal so everything suggests this will be a close contest with just the odd goal separating the teams.
Vital Posh predicts a win for Posh in a 2 – 1 win.
REFEREE
Mark BROWN takes charge of this clash. He was the fourth official at Posh`s match at Leicester City last weekend!
He will be assisted by David Benton and Darren England.
The fourth official is Lee Betts.
UP THE POSH Follow me on Twitter: @MWL1967
Photos 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:
