Peterborough United boss wants his team to be judged in May not halfway through a season

The Posh home game with MK Dons on Thursday (7.45pm) will complete the first-half of the League One season and McCann’s men could be anywhere between sixth and 12th on the final whistle.

Posh are currently eighth, three points outside the play-off places, after failing to win any of their last five League One matches.

They host seventh-placed Wycombe on New Year’s Day (3pm).

“It’s easy to judge us now,” McCann admitted. “But we are only halfway through a season.

"There is still a lot to play for. We should be judged in May.”

McCann is expecting a tricky contest at home to an MK side who are in the bottom four despite winning their first match under new manager Mark Jackson on Boxing Day, 1-0 over fellow strugglers Forest Green Rovers at stadium: mk.

Jackson had been working as first-team coach at Leeds United before replacing Liam Manning at MK.

"It’s a new manager, but I suspect MK will still play a passing, possession-based game,” McCann added.

“I don’t know Mark, but my assistant Cliff Byrne knows him very well. He can’t fail to have learnt plenty from working with Marcelo Bielsa and Jesse Marsch.

"i’m just glad to be back playing at home. We’ve had one league game at home in the last two months so I hope we get some great backing from our fans as we try and get back into that top six.

"We have two home games in quick succession and we have to make that work for us.”