MATCH PREVIEW: McCann's men won't be afraid of Blades

On the surface inconsistent Posh couldn’t be travelling to Bramall Lane at a worse time. After a slow start ‘The Blades’ have started a charge up the League One table with three successive wins.

McCann respects Saturday’s opponents, but he sees no reason to fear them.

“A lot of teams probably travel to Bramall Lane with a bit of fear inside them,” McCann stated.

“They are beaten before they get there, but that won’t be the case for us.

“Sheffield do have a strong squad with good players in every position, and they have had success since they switched to a formation that clearly suits them.

“It’s a great stadium and there will be a big passionate crowd behind them, but we have won there in the last two seasons so there’s no reason why we can’t win there again.

“We will be positive as always. We will concentrate as much on how we can hurt them as we will on stopping them hurting us.

“It should be a great game and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

McCann will be forced into two changes to the starting line-up that played well, despite failing to beat Port Vale, at the ABAX Stadium last weekend.

Midfielder Jermaine Anderson is likely to miss the rest of the season after damaging his knee ligaments in the Vale match.

And left-back Andrew Hughes will miss the game after Posh failed to win an appeal against a red card suffered in the final moments of the Vale game.

Jerome Binnom-Williams is expected to replace Hughes, but McCann has options for the central midfield role alongside captain Chris Forrester.

“Leo Da Silva Lopes has shown he can play successfully in the centre of midfield,” McCann added.

“And I have Callum Chettle, whle Michael Bostwick can also play there if necessary.

“I brought Jerome to the club to play and he was impressive in the reserve team this week.”

Posh are unable to sign a replacement for Anderson from the Football League after changes to the emergency loan system this season.