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Ferguson: We'll never have a better chance; Mackail-Smith may be missing
DARREN Ferguson has urged his players to seize the moment and propel Posh into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup for just the third time in the club's history tonight against Blackburn.
DARREN Ferguson has urged his players to seize the moment and propel Posh into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup for just the third time in the club's history tonight against Blackburn.The Posh boss reckons his team will never have a better opportunity to topple top flight opponents. Premier League hosts Blackburn have seen a virus sweep through their squad, but Ferguson also believes the lack of atmosphere inside Ewood Park and the confidence Posh gained from Saturday's 3-0 win over Scunthorpe will be big factors in his side's favour.
Ferguson, who may be without key men Craig Mackail-Smith (ankle) and Gaby Zakuani (hamstring) because of injury, said: "I have a good feeling about this game for a number of reasons.
"Their preparations will have been disrupted by the virus for a start, but a smaller crowd than they are used to could also be an advantage for us.
"There won't be much of an atmosphere, but we are treating it as a massive match for the club. To reach the quarter-finals would be a fantastic achievement and Burnley and Derby showed last season that Championship clubs can go even further.
"It's a great opportunity for us to deliver another great night in the club's recent history. We are going up there with nothing to lose and the win we had against Scunthorpe arrived just at the right time for us and has given us a huge lift.
"I'm not sure what sort of team Blackburn will field, but I doubt whether they will field a full strength side as they play Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.
"They will still be able to put out a good side who will punish us if we don't look after the ball well enough, but my lads will enjoy the fact that they might get a bit more time on the ball.
"But I'm not that interested in their approach. If we play to our best we will give them a hard match and I am convinced we a have a big chance of pulling off a shock.
"We have a big game ourselves against Barnsley at the weekend, but we will be fielding our strongest available side. Craig and Gabby are struggling at the moment, but we will see how they are when we get up there today."
If centre-back Zakuani misses out tonight, on-loan Krystian Pearce could make a rare starting appearance, although Ferguson also has the option of moving Charlie Lee to the heart of the defence, while recalling club captain Russell Martin at right-back.
Mackail-Smith's absence would mean either George Boyd moving inside in support of Aaron Mclean or Shaun Batt starting a game up front.
On-loan players Danny Rose, Scott Griffiths and Ryan Bennett are all cup-tied, while Tommy Williams has been ruled out because of an ankle injury.
Live updates: Carling Cup, 4th round, Blackburn Rovers v Peterborough United
Griffiths and Bennett could make their Posh debuts in a reserve team friendly at Histon tomorrow evening.
Centre-forward Ben Wright has been recalled from his loan spell at non-league Luton to sit on the substitutes’ bench.
The match will be played to a finish tonight with extra-time and penalties available if necessary.
n POSH last reached the quarter-finals of the Football League Cup in the 1991-92 season when they were beaten by Middlesbrough after a replay.
The club reached the semi-finals of the competition in the 1965-66 season when they lost over two legs to West Brom.
More on tonight’s big game . . .
see pages 34 and 35
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