Posh boss forced into pragmatic approach

WITH an estimated 15 injuries to a dozen players, it is hard to knock the work Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson has done in adversity this season.

Despite not having the same side twice in succession, Posh are second in the league.

The latest victim, South African left-back Kgosi Ntlhe, pulled a hamstring after 12 minutes of the London Road outfit’s 1-0 home win over Fleetwood on Saturday. And now the club’s rising star, five-goal striker Kyle Vassell, is nursing a broken foot.

With such rotten luck, it’s little wonder Ferguson favours points over style.

“Fleetwood was a big win for the players,” Ferguson insisted after a victory following defeats at Gillingham and Yeovil. “Probably our most important win as a team, purely because of our recent form. I didn’t want people to start reflecting on last season, when we struggled after a good start.

“But it was a boring game, and a very long afternoon for those watching it.”

There is little prospect of a repeat of the last time Posh and Oldham met. That astonishing contest, in which Athletic recovered from 3-0 down at half-time to win 5-4, featured only three players — Genseric Kusunga, Danny Philliskirk and Peterborough’s Michael Bostwick — likely to play on Saturday.

Posh’s emphasis this season is on youthful zeal, epitomised by winger Marcus Maddison. The former Newcastle trainee cost a rumoured £250,000 in the summer and is a potent, crowd-pleasing dribbler of the old school.

Elsewhere in midfield, Jack Payne skippers the side despite being only 22, while on the left flank Athletic will need to be wary of ex-Shrewsbury star Jon Taylor. Up front, Posh are likely to line up with Conor Washington alongside ex-Hartlepool star Luke James.