Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson demands a strong reaction at the Hawthorns to a humbling home defeat

Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson is demanding a strong reaction to one of the worst displays in his side’s season of struggle in the Championship.
Frankie Kent in action for Posh.Frankie Kent in action for Posh.
Frankie Kent in action for Posh.

The way a Coventry City side, who had scored five goals in their previous seven outings, carved Posh open at the Weston Homes Stadium to win 4-1 last Saturday (January 15) was worrying.

And now Posh must travel to face one of the Championship promotion favourites West Bromwich Albion, a team unbeaten on their own ground.

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“There has to be a reaction to how we performed last Saturday which was very worrying,” Ferguson insisted. “And I am confident we will see one.

Kwame Poku in action for PoshKwame Poku in action for Posh
Kwame Poku in action for Posh

“Hopefully we will deliver a performance good enough for us to win, but if we don’t there is also a right way to lose and that wasn’t it last week.

“It will obviously be a tough game for us. They will be missing a couple of key men, but they have a deep squad and the boy they have just signed (Daryl Dike) is a handful up front.

“But we have to believe in what we are doing and most importantly we have to stay in the game.

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“They have not been in the best of form lately, They certainly haven’t been winning so the pressure will be on them to get a result in front of a big crowd.

“West Brom have started to play a little bit more than than they showed at our place earlier in the season, but they are still a strong, physical side who are very dangerous from set-pieces. They like to get the ball into the opposition penalty area as often as possible.

“But we have to believe we can get a result. Any team can beat any other team in the Championship. We proved we can match them in our home game when they won it with the last kick of the ball.

“But we will need a much better performance than the one we gave against Coventry and I expect to see one.”

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Posh could revert to a 3-5-2 formation on Saturday to combat a team who deliver plenty of crosses and that could mean a recall for centre-back Frankie Kent who hasn’t featured since the heavy defeat at Blackburn in November.

There is a school of thought in the Posh camp that Norwich City loanee Bali Mumba will be more effective as a wing-back.

Summer signing from Colchester Kwame Poku is pushing for a start after impressing in attacking roles off the substitutes’ bench in recent games.