Understrength Accrington to give it a good shot at London Road despite some heavy beatings in this fixture, key League One games, big match odds and a controversial referee

Stanley secured a welcome win, after three straight defeats, at home to Wigan last weekend. They are 12th, but just three points outside the play-off places with games in hand on most of the teams above them.

Coleman was also pleased his team didn’t have a midweek fixture as they have suffered a mass of injuries in recent weeks. They will also be without top scorer Dion Charles tomorrow as he is on international duty with Northern Ireland under 21 duty. Key men Colby Bishop, Joe Pritchard and Seamus Conneely are among those on the injury list.

But Coleman said: “We have lads who are ready to step up and show their worth to the squad which we saw against Wigan.

“We’ve been screaming out for a week off. The players have been dropping like flies. It got to the point where we were afraid of training. We could hide behind the injuries but we are not going to, I am pleased with the squad we have, I am pleased with the way the lads who have been called in have responded and we will give it our best shot on Saturday.

“I watched Peterborough at Blackpool and they will want to play better than they did there, but they were also unlucky. It was 1-1 when they were awarded a penalty against them even though no-one appealed. You need that sort of luck sometimes.

“Peterborough have won plenty of games this season so they are clearly a very good side.”

ACCRINGTON BITS AND BOBS...

FORM GUIDE

Accrington have won six and lost seven of their 17 away games in League One this season. Their mosst notable away wins were secured at Charlton (2-0), Gillingham (2-0) and Doncaster (1-0).

PAST POSH V ACCRINGTON

Posh have won four of their five Football League meetings against Stanley at London Road by an aggregate margin of 19-4, including an 8-2 hammering in January, 2008.

Aaron Mclean scored his first Posh goal in a 4-2 League Two win in November, 2006. Half-time substitute Danny Crow scored twice that night with Trevor Benjamin converting a penalty.

Second-half goals from Marcus Maddison, Ivan Toney, Frankie Kent and Siriki Dembele turned a close home game against Accrington Stanley last season into a 4-0 Posh romp.

Accrington’s sole win in this fixture - 1-0 - arrived in October, 2018.

KEY MATCHES

Games for Posh fans to keep an eye on this weekend include Oxford v Lincoln tonight (Friday) and then Bristol Rovers v Sunderland and Hull v Gillingham on Saturday.

BIG MATCH ODDS

Posh have now drifted out to 100/30 third favourites to win League One with Sky Bet. Leaders Hull are favourites at 11/10 with Sunderland at 2/1. Posh are 8/11 to won tomorrow, Accrington are 16/5 with the draw at 13/5.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Sam Purkiss, the man who delivered arguably the worst refereeing performance of the season when Charlton were at London Road in January, is back for the visit of Accrington Stanley on Saturday.

Purkiss was absurdly lenient than night even though he eventually cautioned seven players. He has issued 61 yellow cards and eight red cards in 26 outings this season.