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Whelpdale knows he must seize his chance
CHRIS Whelpdale's selection at right-back came as something of a surprise . . . even to Chris Whelpdale!
CHRIS Whelpdale's selection at right-back came as something of a surprise . . . even to Chris Whelpdale!He was an unexpected inclusion in the Posh defence for the pleasing weekend draw at Bristol City. Manager Darren Ferguson opted to field his tallest-possible defence at Ashton Gate with Whelpdale's height and aerial prowess earning him the nod over club captain Russell Martin.
The former Billericay Town man is expected to retain his place for the visit to Doncaster Rovers tonight. Whelpdale said: "The manager called me in during last week and said he wanted to see what I was like at right-back.
"It did come as a bit of a surprise to me because I thought Russell had been doing well in recent games, but all footballers are pleased to be playing.
"It is about earning a chance and then seizing it with both hands when it comes your way. I was fairly pleased with the way I performed on Saturday and hopefully I will have done enough to stay in the side.
"I felt I did okay defensively in the first half but perhaps didn't make enough use of the ball when I had it.
"There was more chance to get forward in the second half and the whole team did well.
"I thought we could have got more than a point even though we didn't equalise until late in the end.
"But a draw at a place like Bristol City has to go down as a decent result and hopefully it will set us up nicely for the run of key games coming up."
Tonight's trip up the A1 is followed by home clashes against Scunthorpe and Barnsley on successive Saturdays. They are matches in which Posh simply have to collect a handy haul of points.
Whelpdale added: "We definitely need to get the three points at Doncaster and the same applies to the two home games as well.
"There is no such thing as an easy game at this level, but they are the sort of matches we all believe we can.
"Everyone is capable of beating everyone else so any team that can get on a little run will make a lot of progress in the table.
"We have proved we are capable of doing just that in the previous two seasons and hopefully we can put some results together again."
Whelpdale believes discipline and positional sense are key factors in successfully converting from an attacking wide player into a full-back.
He added: "You naturally want to go forward as it is something you are used to doing, but Gaby Zakuani was a big help to me on Saturday.
"He was constantly talking to me during the game and helping me with my positioning."
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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