Peterborough United FA Cup talking points- Salford win brings Jack Marriott question into sharper focus

Posh fans didn’t need any reminder about Jack Marriott’s quality but the striker delivered one against Salford nonetheless.

Not only did he score a thunderous strike out of nothing to make it three, but the 5”6 forward put the rest of the squad to shame by scoring a towering header from a corner- a skill that seems to have deserted the rest of the squad.

After the match, Grant McCann talked of having the best two number nines in League One; Ephron Mason-Clark even went as far as to say the Championship. That may be a little too far but it’s certainly hard to think of a League One club that would turn down the chance to sign one or both of Posh’s frontmen.

It seems hard to imagine then that Jack Marriott would be considered a surprise starter at Bristol Rovers if Jonson Clarke-Harris can shake off a bout of illness- yet that’s where Posh find themselves.

When Posh walked off the field having come from 2-0 behind at Cheltenham on the opening day- with both Marriott and Clarke-Harris having scored- I remember asking Marriott if there has been any conversations between the pair about the race to pick up their second Golden Boot for the club.

While Marriott rather laughed off the question, it seemed, at that time, highly unlikely that 17 games later there would be a ten-goal disparity between the goal tallies of the two without one suffering from injuries.

Yet, while the change to the 4-3-3 had got the best out of Clarke-Harris, it has had the opposite effect on Marriott. His Salford brace was his first goals in 12 games- having come off the bench in all of the league matches in that time.

During that time Marriott was frequently brought into matches to allow Posh to play an extra centre-back as they looked to hold onto a lead rather than extend one- all too often failing it should be said.

That has left Marriott largely cutting a frustrated figure as effective balls into his feet as he made his trademark runs into dangerous positions have been few and far between.

On Wednesday that was much the same for large parts but what he did show is an ability to create chances for himself out of nothing- a valuable skill indeed and one that shouldn’t be underestimated; especially in tricky away matches. He also showed why he is arguably the club’s best finisher; far too good just to be a cup striker.

It’s simple then, he has to be in the team but how do you go about it?

Grant McCann is a 4-3-3 man and with his side sitting fourth- having taken 19 points from their last ten league games- he is very unlikely to change that.

The division’s leading scorer isn’t going to be spending time on the bench any time soon and Marriott is hardly blessed with the pace to play on either of the wings.

Posh are covered there anyway with Ephron Mason-Clark- the form man at the club right now-Kwame Poku returning to fitness as well as Ricky-Jade Jones waiting in the wings and Joe Ward not far away.

The form of Mason Clark is surely something McCann will not want to disrupt by moving him into wide midfield or wingback to try and get both his strikers in.

Even in a 4-4-2, would Jeando Fuchs, Jack Taylor or Harrison Burrows miss out?

All of these problems mean that Marriott may well have to settle for a place back on the bench on Saturday and for the foreseeable future unless McCann changes his play- which shows no sign of being any time soon.

Marriott has clearly shown an impressive attitude during what must be a frustrating season, one that was praised by his manager, but that won’t last forever and questions will surely start to be asked by agents when January or the summer comes around.

A quandary indeed.