Posh confident of extending an excellent home record, but wary of a much-improved Ipswich Town side

Posh beat the Tractor Boys 1-0 in a dour encounter at Portman Road less than three weeks ago. The match was settled by an own goal in favour of a team who didn’t have a shot on target of their own in 90 minutes.

Since that match Ipswich appear to have recruited well with tenagers Troy Parrott (Spurs) and Luke Matheson (Wolves) arriving on loan from the Premier League.

“Ipswich have a good squad,” Ferguson stated. “They’ve suffered a catalogue of injuries this season, but most of those players are now back and they’ve freshened the side up since we played them.

“The new players will bring pace, energy and youthful legs so I’m expecting a tough game against a side who will there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

“I watched their game at Crewe recently and they played very well and they played well again on Saturday (beating Blackpool 2-0) which will fill them with confidence ahead of tonight.

“I’m expecting a more open game than we saw at Portman Road. Our pitch lends itself to that. The groundstaff are working hard on the surface, but it won’t be any different to what it was on Saturday.

“We need to get through this game and then there’s 11 days before the next home match and hopefully the weather will improve and we get some growth into the pitch.

“You can play on it which is the good thing and we’ve been playing very well on it so we will go into the game with confidence. We’re strong at home. We’ve been scoring goals and we’ve been doing well defensively. We’ll do what we always do and cope with whatever is thrown at us.”

The only injury absentee for Posh is teenage defender Ronnie Edwards. Centre-back Frankie Kent is set to play after a scan on a tight hamstring yesterday revealed no damage.

Posh have the best home record in League One with 29 points from 12 matches, nine of which have been won.