The Democratic Republic of Congo international was an impressive performer after being recalled by new manager Mark Cooper for the 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United on Saturday.

Zakuani had been surprisingly left out by former boss Darren Ferguson for what proved to be his final fixture at the Posh helm against Newcastle earlier this month. Eyebrows were raised when he was a shock omission for a home game against Plymouth at the end of September as well.

He now hopes a decent display at Bramall Lane will make him a prominent part of Cooper's plans as Posh bid to power away from the bottom of the Championship table.

Zakuani said: "I thought we defended well as a team on Saturday and were unlucky to concede.

"What happened in the past has happened. I was surprised to be left out a couple of times and I've also been taken off a few times in games as well.

"It was really disappointing not to be selected for the Newcastle game because it was a fixture everyone had looked forward to since the summer.

"But I don't have any sort of grudge towards the previous manager. He picked the team he felt he needed to win games.

"All I care about now is going forward and making sure I am in the team."

Zakuani shares new boss Cooper's view that Posh must make themselves harder to beat in order to pull clear of danger.

That is something regularly being drilled into the players during a demanding training regime.

Posh have conceded 28 goals in their 17 league games to date this season - that's the second worst record in the second tier of English football.

Zakuani added: "Calling our training hard would be an understatement. It has been really tough but that is no bad thing.

"Everyone is putting in the work and we are already seeing the benefits. That was clear on Saturday when we definitely deserved the draw and I actually think we should have won the game.

"We looked much more solid and were hard to break down. We have only really been well beaten in a couple of games this season and we all still believe in ourselves as players.

"Making ourselves harder to beat is definitely the way forward and that has been drilled into us by the manager in the time he has been at the club.

"We have got to get back to keeping clean sheets as we did during the promotion seasons and I feel we are capable of doing it again at this level."

Zakuani lined up alongside recent loan capture Ryan Bennett in defence on Saturday.

Welsh international Craig Morgan and on-loan Birmingham man Kystian Pearce were not in the 18-man squad for the Sheffield United fixture.