Peterborough United mean business ahead to crucial Derby County clash as the Rams look to respond to disappointment

Posh are looking to equal what would be their best winning run of the season with a third straight win against play-off hopefuls Derby.

The Rams are in the middle of a slight wobble, having won only one of their last four league games, whereas Posh look in good touch having bounced back from disappointment against Cheltenham with eight goals in two games against Burton and Lincoln.

With just nine games to go, Posh have to start putting a run together now to keep their end-of-season aspirations alive.

Joe Ward and Jonson Clarke-Harris have both scored in the last two but surprisingly it was the first time that Ward has scored in back-to-back league matches for the club.

He said: “It was good to get back-to-back goals, hopefully I can go and score again on Saturday. It’s very pleasing to score and assist, it makes it a positive performance for you and the team and it helps us progress by getting wins on the board.

"We know it’s a big game but we’re just focusing on trying to get the job done and not looking too far ahead- hopefully we can get a positive result.

“We had to react to Cheltenham, it wasn’t good enough at all so we’ve shown we can do the business as we’re looking forward to the Derby game now.

“We know we’re good going forward, we’ve got threats from everywhere on the field, we’ve just got to build on what we’ve been doing.”

OPPOSITION VIEW

Paul Warne’s men sit four points above Posh, while level on games, in fifth in the table having lost ground last week with a 2-0 defeat to Fleetwood.

Derby boss Paul Warne has said that his side is desperate to bounce back from that setback.

He told the Derbyshire Telegraph: “They're big boys, they know" he said. "They don't need me to come and talk about it.

"Whatever 11 we choose to start the game, they should have performed at a higher level than that.

"That's the nicest way to put it. The lads have seen their performance and collectively we could have made five or six changes at half-time.

"I've never said that in my career let alone here. It was disappointing. The lads understand it and they want to get back to it.

"They are desperate to put on a performance that we can all be really proud of."

PAST MATCHES

Posh struck twice in added time through Harrison Burrows and Siriki Dembele to beat Derby County 2-1 on their last visit to the Weston Homes Stadium in the Championship in August 2021.

Derby avenged that defeat the following February with a late winning goal of their own and Ferguson quit Posh that night.

Posh have won four and lost just one of six League matches against Derby at London Road.

The sole defeat arrived in a Championship game in 2010 after Posh had Ryan Bennett and Craig Morgan sent off by referee Robbie Savage, sorry Nigel Miller. Derby went on to win 3-0.

Derby scored two late goals to pip Posh 2-1 at Pride Park earlier this season after Nathan Thompson had been dismissed by eccentric referee Bobby Madden.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Carl Brook is the referee on Saturday. He took charge of Posh's 1-0 defeat at Bolton in September with few controversies.

Following Thompson’s dubious red card at Pride Park, Brook takes charge having only given out one red card all season in a League Two match between Mansfield and Swindon.

DERBY DANGERS

Striker David McGoldrick has two hat-tricks in his 16 League One goals this season but still sits six goals behind Jonson Clarke-Harris at the top of the goalscoring charts. He scored the winning goal against Posh in August.