POSH PREVIEW: McCann to make decision re future next week, Forrester wins player of the year prize

Grant McCann, a front-runner for the Peterborough United manager's job, will make a decision on his immediate future early next week.
Chris Forrester has won the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Posh Player-of-the-Year prize. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Chris Forrester has won the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Posh Player-of-the-Year prize. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Chris Forrester has won the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Posh Player-of-the-Year prize. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

McCann is in caretaker charge of the final League One match of the season against Blackpool at the ABAX Stadium on Sunday (May 8, 12.30pm).

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony is in the UK for that game and McCann when speak to him about plans for next season. McCann has been in Switzerland this week taking more giant steps towards earning the highest-possible coaching qualifications.

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But now McCann, who is 7/2 second favourite for the post with Sky Bet behind odds-on shot Steve Evans, is concentrating on finishing a disappointing season with a flourish.

Mark Tyler will start for Posh against Blackpool. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Mark Tyler will start for Posh against Blackpool. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Mark Tyler will start for Posh against Blackpool. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

McCann said: “I’ll speak to the chairman next week to see what his plans are. Until then I won’t be making any decisions on my own future.

“The last thing I want to do is leave the club. I love it here. I’ve tried to keep myself away from the press to make sure I am focused on the team, but I understand there has been a lot of support for me from fans for which I’m grateful.

“Our fans have been superb this season given the circumstances. I couldn’t believe we took over 500 to Shrewsbury last Saturday (April 30), but it was great to see them all there and I hope we can put on a show for them in the final game.

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“We’ve lost 10 games at home this season which is far too many. I never looked forward to games at London Road when I was playing for other teams and we want to get back to that. No-one should be coming to Peterborough expecting an easy game.

Mark Tyler will start for Posh against Blackpool. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Mark Tyler will start for Posh against Blackpool. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Mark Tyler will start for Posh against Blackpool. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

“It’s a massive match for Blackpool as they need to win to have a chance of staying in the league, but we can’t worry about them we can only take care of what we do.

“And we want to win. We want to put in another positive performance. It won’t be easy as Blackpool have it all to play for, but we want to get our crowd on their feet in approval of how we are playing.”

McCann wants to name an unchanged team from the 4-3 win at Shrewsbury - it would be the first unchanged starting line-up since January 16 - but a couple of unidentified players are carrying knocks.

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Veteran Mark Tyler will continue in goal as first-choice Ben Alnwick is injured.

Midfielder Chris Forrester will collect the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Posh Player-of-the-Year prize before the game.

McCann, who was behind the decision to play Forrester at the base of a midfield diamond, believes it’s a well-deserved award for a player enjoying his first season in the Football League.

“Chris has been a revelation this season,” McCann insisted. “Considering he’s played two full seasons (one in Ireland) without a break, he’s done exceptionally well.

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“He came across as a winger, but I could see in training how clever he is and what a range of passing he has so I got him to play a bit deeper.”

McCann expects to pick his final EUFA coaching badge at a Belfast ceremony in October.

Latest Sky Bet odds on the next Posh manager: 4/6 Steve Evans, 7/2 Grant McCann, 8/1 Steve Cotterill, 14/1 Brian McDermott, 16/1 Karl Robinson, 18/1 Chris Powell.