Peterborough United manager backs his players to cope with derby day pressure

​The match is crucial for both teams for vastly different reasons, but Ferguson will demand his players try and treat it just like any other League One match.

Posh have won five and drawn one of their last six games to power into fifth place.

"We’d be daft to change anything from the last few weeks just because there will be a lot of hype around the game,” Ferguson said.

"The players know what's at stake. It's 3 points just like every other game but, and I know it's a cliche, we have consistently been focusing entirely on the next game and it's worked of late.

“It will be a tough one though. Cambridge have found some form which can happen at this stage of the season with teams in trouble. They picked up an excellent result at Bolton last weekend.

“But it’s important we play the game and not the occasion.

“It's going to be a good atmosphere and it's going to be a great game.

"I'm looking forward to it. I've seen them a few times this season and they will be tough to beat.

"They're fighting for their lives to stay in the league and we're fighting for our lives to get out of the league so there’s a lot riding on it.

"But we have to just make sure we play our game. We need to be good on the ball because if we make it a game of fighting for second balls we will have a problem."

Posh are warm favourites to win the game, but relegation threatened teams have been upsetting those going for promotion on a regular basis in recent weeks so Ferguson will stamp out any signs of complacency.

"There are always strange results at this time of year,” Ferguson added. “I don't see them as shocks because they happen every year. You'd never get a coupon up at this stage of the season.

“There's fatigue and there's pressure so strange things can happen.

“We actually don’t mind the pressure. Four of our last five games are against teams with plenty to play for and that could suit us as the other teams will be under pressure as well and they might not cope with it as well as we will.

"We've worked wonders to get into the top six, but we've achieved nothing yet. Other results don’t matter. We can only control what's in front of us. We have to go to Cambridge and ask are we good enough to beat them?

"That is it, nothing else matters. If we do, great, and if we aren't good enough on the day, then you move onto the next one.

"We know we will have to play well to win on Saturday. We are facing another in-form team and they have experienced players who know what they are doing like Ryan Bennett, someone we know well.”

After Cambridge, Posh travel to another bottom four side Accrington Stanley on Tuesday (April 18). Posh also have top four sides Barnsley and Ipswich to play as well as mid-table Bristol Rovers.

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