Time To Step Up To The Plate
It’s matchday three in Sky Bet League One with Peterborough United entertaining Luton Town at the ABAX Stadium.
Posh have opened their League campaign with two victories; a two-one opening day win against Bristol Rovers and then a 4-1 thumping of Rochdale. Boss Steve Evans named the same starting eleven for both those matches but tweaked it a bit for the midweek Carabao Cup defeat at Championship side QPR.
Those tweaks, to put it bluntly, failed miserably! Leeds United loanee Tyler Denton made his full debut for Posh at left-back and after putting in decent displays in pre-season again teams four or five Leagues below Posh, this challenge looked way too much for him with some fans even calling for him to be sent back to his parent club!
Callum Cooke also made his full debut after making cameo appearances in the opening two matches and while he looked decent in those matches, he didn’t have the same effect in this match and was substituted at half-time for tactical reasons as Evans brought on a second striker.
The third debutant in that Cup match was new forward Ivan Toney who looks like he could be a good alternative to Matty Godden and Jason Cummings but he lacked match fitness. The Cup match was ideal to get minutes into his legs but he will surely find himself back on the bench for Hatters clash.
We’re expecting those debutants to find themselves back on the bench but from Evans’ pre-match interview with the official Posh website, it sounds as though he won’t be able to name the same starting line-up for the third consecutive League match.
Midfielders Siriki Dembele and top scorer Mark O’Hara failed to train on Thursday due to injury and are a major doubt for the match on Saturday.
Dembele, a summer capture from Grimsby Town, has been a livewire since arriving at the club. The winger was originally identified as someone who could be turned into a forward but has been so much more effective in his more natural position. He has, so far, taken over the “assist-king” tag from Marcus Maddison as he assisted on three of the four goals last weekend at Rochdale although one of those assists could change to a goal for the 21-year-old. His freekick appeared to cross the line before the keeper clawed the ball out only to see Godden tap in the rebound.
While Dembele has been very effective on the wing, fellow midfielder Mark O’Hara has had an equally positive impact since his arrival from Scottish Premiership side Dundee.
The 6-foot 4-inch midfielder is very attack-minded and he showed that to a positive effect on the opening day of the season when he got on the end of a cross from Dembele to power a header from the edge of the penalty area for the winner over Rovers. He went one better in the match against Dale striking twice. The first was another header with the second a break-away goal in the dying minutes.
With both Dembele and O’Hara potentially missing from the Posh squad on Saturday, it is definitely time for the other players to step up to the plate.
On the next page, we look at the potential options available to Evans and who is likely to take the place of Dembele and O’Hara if they are unavailable for the match.
Will Evans start Cooke again, this time in place of Dembele or should he go for George Cooper who has been largely overlooked so far this season? We’ve all seen the potential of Cooper but can he fit into the tactics of Evans as his best position is more of a number 10 rather than a winger that needs to get up and down the pitch while sharing the defensive duties when required.
While Cooke has featured as a substitute in both the League matches so far and a 45-minute appearance against QPR, Cooper, on the other hand, has only been on the pitch for 17 minutes in that Cup defeat on Tuesday!
Posh do have another winger, or rather two wingers, on their books but it is doubtful either will be brought into the starting line-up. Isaac Buckley-Ricketts was signed from Manchester City but he lacks experience and it will be a big risk to start the 20-year-old. The other winger is, of course, Marcus Maddison!
Maddison was widely expected to be sold in the summer and although there were a number of clubs interested, with some triggering his release clause, no one matched the payment terms Posh are insisting on. He is still expected to leave on loan with a view to signing permanently in January with a Championship side but until this happens, or the loan window shuts, then Maddison won’t be seen in a Posh shirt.
If O’Hara fails to pass his fitness test, he will leave a big hole in the centre of midfield as not only does he bring a scoring prowess to the midfield, he also brings size and strength. While Cooke can play in central midfield, Louis Reed could be the man to take O’Hara’s place as he played regularly alongside Alex Woodyard in pre-season.
Posh did sign Adam King on loan from Swansea as another body for midfield but he suffered an injury in pre-season which eventually saw him return to his parent club. One other midfielder on the books is transfer listed Jermaine Anderson.
Anderson was the subject of a late transfer bid from neighbours Northampton Town but the player turned them down opting to stay at Posh, pick up a good wage and watch Posh from the sidelines each week! It will be a shock if Anderson is chosen by Evans to fill the boots of O’Hara.
While we expect Cooper and Reed to step up to the plate, the fans also need to do the same.
Luton are expecting to bring over 2,000 noisy fans with them as they occupy the Motorpoint Stand and part of the old North Stand. Posh fans will need to unite in the Weston Homes London Road terrace, the BGL South Family Stand, and the Main North Stand if we don’t want to be out-sung.