Next-up for struggling Peterborough United is a fixture they haven't won since 2015, a week after sacking Darren Ferguson

Posh were confirmed in bottom place in League One by Reading’s 1-1 draw at Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday night. Only Darren Ferguson’s side and Plymouth Argyle have failed to pick up a point in their four matches so far.

And next-up for Posh is a visit from high-fliers Bradford City who will play at London Road for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

‘The Bantams’ sneaked into an automatic promotion place in League Two with a fluke last-gasp goal against Fleetwood on the final day of the the season, but they’ve taken League One football in their stride, despite receiving a tough-looking start to the campaign from the fixture computer.

Bradford beat last season’s play-off semi-finalists Wycombe Wanderers on the opening day and have also beaten promotion fancies Luton Town and Stockport County, in each case with a 2-1 scoreline.

The only blip on their season is a 0-0 draw at Northampton Town which is the only point Cobblers have managed so far.

Bradford City are 4th heading into Saturday’s game, already 10 points clear of Posh.

PAST MATCHES

‘The Bantams’ finished bottom of League One in that 2018-19 season and yet took 4 points from a Posh team that finished seventh after replacing manager Steve Evans with Darren Ferguson halfway through the campaign.

It finished 1-1 at Posh with Ivan Toney equalising an early Anthony O’Connor goal in the second-half. City won 3-1, after Ferguson’s return, at Valley Parade with 3 goals in the final 20 minutes rendering an 89th minute Marcus Maddison penalty irrelevant.

Posh did knock City out of the FA Cup that season, on penalties after a 4-4 replay draw in West Yorkshire. Toney bagged a hat-trick in that tie.

The teams have met at London Road in a Football League fixture 18 times with Posh winning 9 compared to just 3 victories for Bradford. Those 3 wins came in consecutive seasons between 2016 and 2018 with the visitors winning 4-0, 1-0 and 3-1 after Posh had established a 14-game unbeaten run!

Posh last won the fixture in March 2015 when goals from Gaby Zakuani and MIchael Bostwick (penalty) sealed a 2-0 win in Dave Robertson’s first game as caretaker-manager. Ferguson had been sacked a week earlier after a dismal 3-0 defeat at MK Dons.

DANGER MEN

Bradford didn’t rest on their laurels after winning promotion.

Manager Graham Alexander has made experienced signings in the shape of centre-back Curtis Tilt and midfielder Max Power.

Forwards Will Swan (from Crawley) and Stephen Humphrys (Barnsley) also arrived as did highly-regarded wing-back Josh Neufville (AFC Wimbledon)..

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Emerging referee James Durkin is in charge of Posh v Bradford City. He’s the son of former Premier League official Paul Durkin.

Durkin junior switched between League One, League Two and the National League last season and In 29 outings he issued 124 yellow cards and 6 red cards.

BIG MATCH ODDS

Newly-promoted Bradford are favourites to beat established League One outfit Posh with Sky Bet which reflects the differing starts made by the clubs.

‘The Bantams’ are evens to win with Posh at 23-10 and the draw chalked up at 5-2.

After the Tuesday night fixtures, you could get 150-1 on Posh to win League One, 50-1 on them to be promoted and 11-10 on Darren Ferguson’s side suffering a relegation.

PLAYED FOR BOTH CLUBS

Striker Aaron Mclean was part of the fabled ‘Holy Trinity’ at Posh alongside Craig Mackail-Smith and George Boyd. He scored 85 goals in 206 appearances in two spells at London Road.

Posh sold him to Hull City for a reported £1 million in December, 2010 and from there he went to Bradford in January, 2014 for an undisclosed fee. Mclean scored just 7 goals in 37 appearances for City before returning to Posh on loan.

Bradford let him leave on a free transfer for Barnet 18 months after signing him. Mclean is now a successful football pundit on TV and radio.