POSH LATEST: Peterborough United's team leaders need to step forward
It's a time for Peterborough United's leaders to come forward and lead the side out of their awful run of form.
Posh manager Graham Westley admits the younger members of his team require guidance following three successive League One defeats.
But are those leaders at the ABAX Stadium? The Peterborough Telegraph picks the men who have to set the tone for the rest of this stuttering campaign.
1) Michael Bostwick was criticised by his manager last weekend for collecting a needless caution that kept him out of the next two matches.
Westley knows the importance of the team’s enforcer, a man who leads by example with commitment and physical strength.
Posh need a repeat of the form he showed in the second-half of last season, in midfield or in the centre of defence.
2) All players look up to assistant manager Grant McCann thanks to his excellent playing career. I hope Posh are using the intelligence and knowledge of this popular staff member to the best advantage.
McCann knows what it takes to be successful. He knows what that success means to Posh fans. He’s a passionate Posh fan as well as a passionate Posh man.
3) The result of Chris Forrester’s scan on an injured knee (the extent of the damage will be revealed before the weekend) is crucial to the success or otherwise of Posh’s season. If the news is bad Posh should perhaps ditch the midfield diamond as no-one else can play his role within that formation anywhere near as well as him.
4) It seems harsh to put pressure on a 21-year-old striker in his first season in the Football League, especially as he scored the last of his seven goals on November 24.
But Lee Angol is different to the other Posh strikers in the squad. He’s bigger and his touch his better, useful attributes against the physical sides that show up in League One.
Posh need him fit and firing.
5) Marcus Maddison is the most natural attacking talent in the Posh squad. It’s baffling that he’s started so few games of late when the team has been struggling to score goals.
He’s more likely to create or score a goal out of nowhere than anyone else in the squad.
Keep him happy, give him the ball, and encourage him to shoot as often as possible. The signs from him on Tuesday night were very encouraging.
6) Someone please find the Michael Smith that looked to have a chance of breaking into Northern Ireland’s squad for the 2016 Euros.
Who are your key Posh men for the rest of this season?