ALAN SWANN’s talking points from the Posh win over Plymouth: ‘JCH is the most important player, a midfield maestro, don’t worry about the big boys, no more rests and a goal for Sammie at the top of Saturday’s wish list’

Jonson Clarke-Harris isn’t the best player in the Peterborough United squad, but he could be the most important.
Posh skipper Mark Beevers congratulates Jonson Clarke-Harris on his goal against Plymouth. Photo: David Lowndes.Posh skipper Mark Beevers congratulates Jonson Clarke-Harris on his goal against Plymouth. Photo: David Lowndes.
Posh skipper Mark Beevers congratulates Jonson Clarke-Harris on his goal against Plymouth. Photo: David Lowndes.

That’s why waiting for the next injury bulletin on his powerful centre-forward could cause manager Darren Ferguson a sleepless night or two.

As Ferguson admitted himself Clarke Harris is pivotal to the way Posh play and yet there is no-one anything like him in the Posh squad. His departure 15 minutes from time with an ankle injury was the one big damepner on an otherwise positive night at the Weston Homes Stadium.

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It was a tactical masterstroke by the boss to revert to three centre-backs and two wing-backs for the League One clash with Plymouth Argyle. One upshot is the natural width provided by wing-backs means Siriki Dembele can play in a more central position as he did when wreaking havoc on League One defences in the latter part of last season.

Frankie Kent of Peterborough United in action with George Cooper of Plymouth Argyle. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Frankie Kent of Peterborough United in action with George Cooper of Plymouth Argyle. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Frankie Kent of Peterborough United in action with George Cooper of Plymouth Argyle. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

And Clarke-Harris thrived with the presence of close company. A striker who struggled when isolated in the two defeats that preceded this 1-0 win was now a man possessed. Clarke-Harris doesn’t always get the ball under control when battling for possession, but if it runs loose there’s now a chance Dembele or Sammie Szmodics will pounce and carry an attack forward.

It happened several times last night, particularly during a dominant first-half display, and it was no surprise when Dembele and Clarke-Harris linked up for the latter to drive home the only goal of the game.

If Clarke-Harris misses out on the FA Cup tie Saturday it’s likely Mo Eisa will step in, a totally different sort of player whose presence could well cause a big tactical rethink.

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At least Eisa, who strays offside an annoying amount of times, would have a great chance of a scoring confidence boost against non-league opposition.

Christy Pym of Peterborough United keeps an eye on the ball as Plymouth Argyle attack. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Christy Pym of Peterborough United keeps an eye on the ball as Plymouth Argyle attack. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Christy Pym of Peterborough United keeps an eye on the ball as Plymouth Argyle attack. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

OTHER TALKING POINTS FROM LAST NIGHT’S GAME...

1) Formations are obviously important, but there’s a reason why, back in early October, Posh went way from the 3-4-2-1 system that served them well last season. They weren’t playing it particularly well.

Swindon ran rings around Posh at start of October forcing Ferguson to dump the system during the match. The big difference now is Frazer Blake-Tracy’s availability as the left sided centre-back meaning Frankie Kent can play on his natural side, the right. Posh now have two centre-backs capable of bringing the ball out of defence which in turn makes it easier to get the ball to Dembele and Szmodics in space without even going through two gifted midfielders in Jack Taylor and Reece Brown.

It was no surprise the performance level of Mark Beevers shot up last night as he played in the middle of a back three where his experience shone through in his reading of the game. I’d expect this system to stay in place for a while, providing Clarke-Harris is around.

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2) Dan Butler isn’t playing at his best on the left-hand side, but he showed enough as a wing-back last season to expect him to come through a sticky spell. The imminent return of Nathan Thompson causes Ferguson an issue on the other flank, but the 30-year-old defender has the skills to play as a right wing-back in this formation. Ryan Broom enjoyed some good moments last night, but he isn’t a natural defender. Until Joe Ward returns from injury, Ferguson will have to decide whether or not to sacrifice some of Broom’s attacking dash (and he looked sharp on occasion last night) for some more defensive solidity.

3) It frustrates me, and it might frustrate him, that Jack Taylor’s shooting prowess is stifled by the current formation and his role in it, but it’s the price of having such a strong all-round game. Taylor gave the ball away badly in the opening minutes last night which helped launch a Plymouth attack, but after that he delivered a quite brilliant display of defensive aggression and high class passing. A second-half chip that Dembele just failed to bring out of the air was a moment of sheer quality, but his defensive power when Plymouth started to get more possession in the latter stages was equally impressive. Taylor is some player.

4) It was interesting to hear Ferguson say he intends to field a strong side to play against Chorley in the second round of the FA Cup at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday. The manager feels resting players for the first round tie at Oxford and the subsequent Papa John’s Trophy game at Cambridge was a mistake in hindsight. Ferguson believes these players are better when kept busy. He feels rhythm was lost and didn’t come back after first-choice players were left out following the League One win at Bristol Rovers. Certainly the performances at Crewe and against Blackpool back that belief up.

5) Top of Ferguson’s wish list on Saturday, aside from a comfortable victory, will be a goal for Sammie Szmodics. The summer signing worked hard last night and generally played well, but a feeble shot when clean through early on betrayed a lack of confidence in front of goal. Szmodics now hasn’t scored in his last 11 League One appearances. A couple of goals for Eisa, who showed his frustration with a couple of angry outbursts at teammates would also be welcome.

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6) It wasn’t a bad set of League One results for Posh last night with Ipswich and Charlton losing, and Portsmouth dropping points at home. The consistency of leaders Hull City is not being matched by the other big names in League One. Sunderland, who didn’t play last night, are now eighth, six points behind Posh, albeit with two games in hand. This division is wide open again and Posh shouldn’t just keep an eye on the big boys. I like the look of Doncaster who have again found some quality loan players.