Rusty Peterborough United go straight from a 25-day break into their biggest game of the season so far

Siriki Dembele is shown a red card in Posh's defeat at Lincoln last season.

Positive Covid tests have kept Posh on the sidelines since the 1-1 draw with MK Dons on December 15 and the short trip up the A15 to face bang-in-form League One leaders Lincoln City is a far from ideal return to action.

But Posh boss Darren Ferguson believes the presence of the live Sky TV cameras and the absence of one of the most passionate and raucous crowds in the lower divisions could work in his side’s favour.

“It’s a huge game for all sorts of reasons,” Ferguson said. “If we lose we are 12 points behind Lincoln, albeit with a couple of games in hand so we can’t let that happen.

Dan Butler should be back in the Posh squad at Lincoln on Saturday.

“But obviously a win gets us to within six points with those games in hand and we will certainly be going there to win.

“They are also the league leaders, they are a local rival and the game is live on television which all makes it an even bigger game.

“We let ourselves down the last time we were on TV (v Chorley in the FA Cup) so we need to make amends for that performance and we need to take advantage of there being no fans in the stadium.

“There is usually a great atmosphere when we play at Lincoln so we will try and make that work in our favour.

“It’s a very tough game though. They are flying, they must be very confident and it’s obvious (manager) Michael Appleton has put together a very good side.

“He’s signed some excellent loan players and the front four are a real handful.

“It’s difficult to know how we will react to our long break.

“We will certainly be fresher than you’d expect at this time of the year and we’ve got some extra work in on the training ground which we also didn’t expect given how many games are normally played at this time.

“But our substitutes’ bench will be very important as I can see myself using all five subs as we haven’t played for so long.

“That might not be the case, but it’s something we have to prepare for.”

Posh are boosted by the return of defender Dan Butler and teenage striker Ricky-Jade Jones after injury, but Saturday’s match comes too soon for Joe Ward. He was due to resume training today (Thursday). Teenage defender Ronnie Edwards is also expected to miss the game after 10 days in self isolation.

Forward Siriki Dembele should be involved despite handing in a transfer request this week. Dembele was sent off within a couple of minutes of coming on as a substitute in this fixture last season, a low point before he turned his season around in spectacular fashion.