Darren Ferguson backs Oliver Norburn to drive Peterborough United into League One play-off places

​The Posh management team are in awe of how the 30 year-old has come back after an 11-month absence because of knee ligament damage.

Norburn has started the last four League One matches and completed the full 90 minutes in the last two ahead of a trip to his former club Shrewsbury Town on Good Friday (3pm).

"Ollie has been very impressive,” Ferguson enthused. “He looks fit, strong and fresh and he’s played very well since he got back into the side.

"It wasn’t easy for him to get back in as Hector Kyprianou and Jack Taylor had been playing very well, but he earned his place and now he’s earnt the right to stay in the team.

"He’s a great character for the situation we are in as well. He drives himself and others on. His attitude is always spot on and he’s passionate about his work."

Norburn was signed from Shrewsbury at Ferguson’s behest in August 2021 for a reported fee of around £500k.

As in the case of another former Shrew, Nathanael Ogbeta, Ferguson was a long-time admirer of Norburn.

"Ollie’s return has been a boost,” Ferguson added. “But we are also very fortunate to have a fully fit squad at such an important time of the season as that’s not often the case.

"Kell Watts is back with us now and Hector is also looking strong after his recent ankle issues.

"The Easter programme is tough on all teams with two games in quick succession for everyone so the more players available the better.

"It’s an important weekend as there could be big swings with six points available for everyone and we just have to make sure we are not on the end of any surprises.

"We’ve got ourselves right back into the mix which is as good as we could have hoped for with seven matches to go.

"But nothing changes because we are in a play-off place now. We will look after what we can control which is our own results.

"We can’t be distracted by what might be going on elsewhere.”

Posh host Exeter City on Easter Monday (3pm).