It's time to put our foot down says Peterborough United boss ahead of a Fergie v Fergie battle

New Forest Green Rovers manager Duncan Ferguson. Photo: Andrew Powell/Getty Images

Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson insists it’s now time for his team to put their foot on the accelerator in the drive for promotion from League One.

Posh have won both of their matches since Ferguson started his fourth spell in charge at the Weston Homes Stadium and they were most impressive during last weekend’s 2-1 win over Portsmouth.

But Ferguson wants to see that standard in every game, starting at League One’s bottom club Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, a fixture that looks a great deal harder than it did a fortnight ago following the appointment of long-time Everton coach Duncan Ferguson as first-team boss at the New Lawn Stadium.

"I have a lot of time and respect for Duncan,” Ferguson admitted. “We played together a couple of times for Scotland under 21s and he has worked under some world-class coaches at Everton.

Charlie Savage has joined Forest Green Rovers on loan from Manchester United. Photo: Getty Images.

"This will be his first home game in charge so he will have the fans and the players pumped up and fighting.

"We have to be ready for that and we have to be prepared for a battle on a small pitch.

"Most importantly though we have to concentrate on getting our own form right.

"We were very good for most of the match against Portsmouth, but that game has gone and we must make sure we reach those levels regularly.

"It’s time to put our foot down. We can’t afford to slow down. We still have ground to make up on teams and there are plenty of other teams chasing the same prize as us.

"We should have gained plenty of confidence from the win and performance though.”

The Pompey victory moved Posh to within two points of Barnsley who occupy the final play-off place, but the Tykes extended that advantage back to five points with a 2-1 win at Oxford United on Wednesday night.

Ferguson reported no fresh injury concerns after the Pompey game. He is likely to name an unchanged starting line-up for the third match in a row, unless he decides to give left-back Dan Butler a breather.

On loan full-back Nathanael Ogbeta made his Posh debut as a late substitute against Pompey.

New striker signing Kabongo Tshimanga is likely to be on the substitutes’ bench.

Forest Green lost their first match under Duncan Ferguson 2-1 at Shrewsbury Town last weekend after conceding two goals in added time.

“They were very unlucky,” Darren Ferguson said. “They scored a great goal and then defended well before losing the game late on.

"Duncan will no doubt have been very unhappy, but knowing him it will make him more determined to make amends against us.

"He’s not a man to get on the wrong side of, something I’ve already told my staff!”

Forest Green have signed young Manchester United midfielder Charlie Savage – the son of Robbie Savage – on loan and he could make his debut against Posh. The 19 year-old has yet to make a senior Football League appearance.

Duncan Ferguson will be the fourth ‘new’ manager Posh have faced since Boxing Day and they have picked up seven points from the previous three meetings at Charlton (Dean Holden), Mark Jackson (MK Dons) and John Mousinho (Portsmouth).