Peterborough United won't change tack despite poor form, plus good and bad injury updates
Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson won’t be changing the club’s playing philosophy despite a poor run of form and an injury crisis.
Posh have slipped to 16th in League One after picking up just one point in three away games in eight days. They went down 3-0 at Wigan Athletic on Tuesday and lost Hector Kyprianou to a hamstring injury which looks set to keep him out of the entire October programme at the very least.
The captain joins Chris Conn-Clarke, Rio Adebisi, Jadel Katongo and Mahamadou Susoho as long-term absentees. In better news centra-back Oscar Wallin, striker Brad Ihionvien and midfielder Ryan de Havilland could all return to the matchday squad for Saturday’s visit of in-form Stevenage to the Weston Homes Stadium.
Posh go into that game with the worst defensive record in the League One, having conceded 17 goals in nine matches.
“Hector is having a scan tonight (Thursday) so we will know how long he will be out after that,” Ferguson revealed. “He felt something early in the game at Wigan, but he carried on as he felt it would go away. He won’t play again this month for sure as he is still very sore.
"But I never use injuries as an excuse. I like a challenge and my job is to find a solution. I have to help the players and improve them, but we won’t be ripping up what we do as a club just because we have lost a couple of games. I have watched the Wigan game back and we played really well in the first-half. Some our football was fantastic and we were in control after conceding a bad early goal. The second goal straight after half-time was a real momentum killer though.
"I will take the positives from that game. The average age of our outfield players was just 20.5 and I’m really proud of that. Some of them are experiencing expectations that are new to them, but again it’s the job of me and my staff to help them.
"It’s another tough game tomorrow. Stevenage are a very good team and they have advanced tactically compared to last season. The manager Alex Revell is a really nice guy who picks your brains as he wants to learn. He’s done a great job. They’ve kept three clean sheets in a row which includes beating Barnsley 3-0 and Wrexham 1-0. They are aggressive with very experienced players, but also with a couple of good, young loan players.
"I know what we need to do to pick up results, but it’s easier said than done. We are only nine games into a season though. Of course we would love to have more points. The players know they will get my backing if they show the application we need. There is certainly no panic. For now we just need to take care of Saturday.
"Oscar has a chance of returning. He will train on Friday, but Brad and Ryan will be involved.”
Joel Randall is unlikely to be recalled on Saturday after irritating Ferguson with his attitude in recent weeks. Full-back Rio Adebisi is scheduled to return at the end of November as is Katongo. Manchester City loanee Suhoso should be back in the New Year.
The League One programme for Posh in October looks tough. They also tackle Rotherham (h), Wycombe (a), Blackpool (h) and Bolton (a). They host Stevenage again on Tuesday (October 8) in a Bristol Street Motors Trophy tie.