It’s crunch time for Peterborough United as manager gives Sammie Szmodics a boost

Posh face a barrage of League One fixtures - 10 of them before the end of February - and it’s vital they are still in touch at the top at the end of them according to manager Darren Ferguson.

Those matches start with a game against improving MK Dons tomorrow (January 16, 3pm) on a London Road playing surface that is bound to be heavy despite the presence of a protective tent over the last week.

But Ferguson is confident his players can meet the challenge.

“January and February will be pivotal months,” Ferguson stated. “We will be playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday constantly and the matches will give us an indication where we are likely to finish this season.

“But if we maintain our strong home form we will definitely be in with a chance. One big thing in our favour is the number of home games we have left.

“The pitch is less of a concern than it would have been if we didn’t have the protective tent for the rest of the season. It will be a mess after we play in it tomorrow and next Tuesday, but then there’s a bit of a break and the groundstaff will sort it out. They have been doing a great job.

“The work we got into the platyers in the two weeks when we didn’t have a game will also stand us in good stead. It was important to refresh the players and they showed in the first half at Lincoln last week and the whole game against Portsmouth on Tuesday that they are in decent form. Evertone is fit as well which is good.

“It’s a tough game tomorrow. MK Dons are a very good side and they have started scoring goals now which was perhaps their weakness. Cameron Jones is in good form and they’ve added a young lad from Chelsea this week (Charlie Brown).

“We ground out a point at their place last month without playing well. We didn’t stick to our gameplan and we’ll need to be better tomorrow, particularly in two areas, and we will be.”

The Posh playing squad all produced negative results from their compulsory Covid tests yesterday (Thursday), although Ronnie Edwards will not be considered for selection as he has been in self-isolation twice since Christmas.

Centre-back Nathan Thompson is suspended tomorrow and will be replaced by either Frazer Blake-Tracy or Niall Mason as Ferguson is expected to stick with his three at the back formation.

Siriki Dembele and Sammie Szmodics will probably get another chance to shine alongside Jonson Clarke-Harris. Dembele scored his first goal since November 7 against Portsmouth, while Szmodics hasn’t scored a League One goal since September 19.

Ferguson added: “Sammie’s performance level in the last two games has been very good. If we keep winning 5-1 and he doesn’t score that won’t bother me. It might bother him, but I’m only interested in him playing well.”

Posh have only played eight of their 19 League One matches at home this season.

Next 10 Posh League One matches: January 16 v MK Dons (home), January 19 v Charlton (home), January 23 v Ipswich (away), January 26 v Bristol Rovers (home), January 30 v Shrewsbury (away), February 6 v Crewe (home), February 13 v BLackpool (away), February 20 v AFC Wimbledon (home), February 23 v Plymouth (away), February 27 v Wigan (home).

Posh also have a Papa John’s Trophy quarter-final on February 2. The draw for which is on January 23.