Charlton Athletic manager has 'high hopes' ahead of Peterborough United trip

Holden acknowledged the strength of the Posh squad in his pre-match interview with the Charlton club website.

Charlton are one of the favourites for promotion from League One this season after bringing in several players in the close season. They beat newly-promoted Leyton Orient 1-0 at the Valley in their League One opener last weekend before losing 3-1 at League Two outfit Newport County in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.

Posh are expected to be without skipper Ephron Mason-Clark tomorrow because of a hamstring issue. Ricky-Jade Jones is expected to deputise.

“Peterborough will be a tough game,” Holden, a former Posh skipper, said. “There’s some really good players in that squad so it will be a big test for us.

”Jack Taylor is a top young prospect and a real coup for Ipswich to sign, but, having said that, Peterborough have brought in Archie Collins, who I believe is a really good player, from Exeter.

“They’ve obviously kept hold of Jonson Clarke-Harris and they’ve got Kwame Poku still in there. Ephron Mason-Clark picked up an injury last week so we’ll see on that. I think Hector Kyprianou in midfield is a good player and they’ve kept hold of Ronnie Edwards - I’m going through quite a few now!

“I believe they’ve got a really good team. Darren Ferguson has been in and out, but it’s a team he knows well and it’s a team that has been together for quite a while.

"We know their way of working, we know their style of play and we know where their threats are. I’m looking forward to seeing us going there and really stamping our authority on the game.

“In the last couple of games we’ve picked up some knocks and niggles which we’re still assessing and will continue to do so right up until kick-off.

"But we go there with high hopes on Saturday.”

Charlton have signed striker Alfie May – the scorer of two great goals against Posh for Cheltenham at London Road last season – goalkeeper Harry Isted, centre-back Lloyd Jones, left-back Tayo Edun and midfield pair Terry Taylor and Panutche Camara, but Holden is still looking to make further additions.

The teams drew 0-0 in a stormy affair in this fixture last season when referee Andrew Kitchen inexplicably failed to send off visiting loan player Jesurun Rak-Sakyi for striking Josh Knight. Knight was sent off for his part in the incident.

Lee Swabey, who awarded two penalties against Posh in Bolton’s 5-0 win at London Road last season, is the match referee tomorrow.