When the injured Peterborough United players are due back and a reason why the team have struggled defensively
The cavalry might not arrive at Peterborough United until the beginning of December.
Posh boss Darren Ferguson delivered a fitness update on his injured players in his press conference ahead of a tough League One game at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
Chris Conn-Clarke (shoulder), Hector Kyprianou (hamstring), Jadel Katongo (hamstring) and Rio Adebisi (knee) are the missing players expected to return before the end of the year. On-loan midfielder Mahamadou Susoho is not due to return to action until January because of a thigh injury.
Posh are also still monitoring the minutes played by central defender Oscar Wallin. He could miss out at Bolton as Emmanuel Fernandez is available after serving a one-game ban on Tuesday when Posh routed Blackpool 5-1 at the Weston Homes Stadium.
"It’s good to have Manny back,” Ferguson admitted. “It gives me a selection problem because of how we played without him on Tuesday, but I don’t mind those problems. Oscar and George Nevett did very well against Blackpool and if Oscar recovers after the Tuesday game as well as he did after the Wycombe game then he has a good chance of playing. George gives us great balance with his left foot and he is very good at building attacks from the back.
"We want all of our players available as soon as possible, but it will be late November, early December before we get four back, with Conn-Clarke possibly returning two weeks before then. It has been difficult for us, but it’s part and parcel of football and we just have to get on with it.
"The biggest problem has been not being able to field a settled back four because of injuries, illness, internationals, a suspension and form. I even changed the goalkeeper on Tuesday. Individuals have not been playing as well as I would have expected, but the constant changing hasn’t helped.”
Posh have the worst defensive record in League One with 25 goals conceded in 13 matches. They are the only team in the division yet to keep a clean sheet. Posh played the same back four and goalkeeper in the first four games of the League One season, but in the next nine games the back line has only remained unchanged on two occasions.