Peterborough United v Tranmere Rovers Match Preview
By Matthew Jones
February 16 2011
Total Tranmere brings you all the stats, facts and team news ahead of Tranmere's League One trip to London Road to take on Peterborough on Saturday.....
Copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission.
Now managed by Darren Ferguson, who returned to take charge of the club for the second time in place of Gary Johnson in mid-January, the Posh are a strong side and have lost just one of their last four games, whilst they are unbeaten in their last eight home games.
However, Tranmere themselves are on a strong run of form, having lost just one of their last eight, and following two confidence boosting wins over Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday in their last two games, Tranmere will be hopeful of picking up another win and three more vital points that could pull them even closer to the play-offs.
Pleterborough United Factfile:
Ground: London Road
Formed: 1934
Nickname: The Posh
Manager: Darren Ferguson
League Finish 2009/10: 24th (The Championship)
Kit
Colours: Blue shirt with white trim, blue shorts with white trim and blue socks
(home), Red shirt with white trim, red shorts with red trim and white socks with red trim around ankle
(away)
Previous Meetings:
Tranmere will be looking to complete the double over Peterborough this weekend after picking up a 1-0 win against the Posh at Prenton Park in September.
The victory was Tranmere's first home success of the season, and only their second win, but was a fantastic three points as they defeated a team who in George Boyd and Craig Mackail-Smith have two players who's weekly wages put together is higher than the entire Tranmere playing squad for one week.
Tranmere's first shot on target was early on as Adam McGurk forced Lewis in to a good save low down, before, after Collister had made two greaet saves from Wesolowski and Boyd, Rovers scored with their only other shot on target in the game.
Just a minute before half time, Ryan Fraughan received the ball from a throw-in, took the ball to the byline before pulling back a low cross to Arnaud Mendy in the penalty area who slotted home his only goal for the club.
From then on, it was mainly Peterborough, but Rovers held strong to keep a very good clean sheet thanks to some excellent defending and goalkeeping.
Mackail-Smith came close on several occasions for the visitors, whilst Rowe and McCann also had chances, but Peterborough weren't able to pull level and as such Tranmere picked up an excellent three points.
Vital Stats:
In 25 trips to Peterborough, Tranmere have been defeated on 12 occasions, winning just four times
Peterborough have scored 33 goals in these 25 games to Tranmere's 16
Tranmere haven't completed the double over the Posh since the 1985/86 season
Rovers are without a win in their last eleven trips to London Road
Tranmere have never beaten Peterborough in seven February meetings between the two sides, losing on three occasions and drawing four times
On This Day:
2002: Tranmere draw 1-1 away to Oldham in Division One under manager Dave Watson
1991: John King's Tranmere hammer Wigan Athletic 3-0 in the Associate Members Trophy, a season in which Tranmere reached the final of the competition
1983: Rovers beat Northampton Town 2-1 at Prenton Park in Division Four
Tranmere Rovers have played eleven previous games on this day, picking up six wins, four draws and just one defeat. In these eleven games, they've scored seventeen goals and conceded just seven.
Rovers are also unbeaten on this day since 1938, playing nine times since a 2-0 defeat to York, whilst they have picked up one win and three draws from five away games on this day.
The Form Book:
Peterborough United last six home games: DWWWWW
Tranmere Rovers last six away games: WDLLWW
Peterborough United are a strong side and with just three home losses from fifteen league games this season, any points picked up by Tranmere this weekend will be well earned.
The Posh also come into this game having won five of the games in their six match sequence, whilst they are unbeaten at London Road in their last eight matches, a run dating back to mid-November.
Peterborough started their six match sequence with five successive wins, firstly against Rochdale as Maclean and Mackail-Smith netted in a 2-1 win, before Mackail-Smith netted two more goals in a 4-1 win over struggling Walsall.
A 90th minute goal from Obika saw Peterborough pick up a late win as they beat Brentford 2-1 next time out on home soil, before Mackail-Smith netted another two strikes as the Posh beat Hartlepool United 4-1 in Darren Ferguson's first home game since returning to manage The Posh.
Peterborough then beat Sheffield Wednesday 5-3, coming from behind to win the game, before again coming from behind in their most recent home game to draw 4-4 with high flying Southampton.
Other notable results at London Road for the club this season include successes over Swindon (5-4), Oldham (5-2), Bristol Rovers (3-0) and Huddersfield Town (4-2).
The Posh have played 15 home games so far this season and picked up 32
of an available 45 points, this thanks to ten wins, two draws and three
defeats.
Impressive
results away from home for Darren Ferguson's side include successes over Yeovil Town (2-0), Walsall (3-1), Carlisle (1-0) and Plymouth Argyle (3-0).
Peterborough United come into this fixture in sixth place in the League One table, nine points above fifteenth placed Tranmere Rovers, having played 29 games and picked up 46 of an available 87 points, this thanks to 14 wins, four draws and 11 defeats.
A win in their most recent away game saw Tranmere pass last seasons total of four away league wins, whilst they come into this game having lost just one of their last six games and conceded just two in five, a run of form they will be joping to extend on Saturday at London Road.
Their away form isn't weak either, with just two defeats in their last six matches on the road, a run that also includes three wins.
Tranmere picked up successive wins in their six match sequence, starting with an excellent 1-0 win over Bury in the Johnstone Paints Trophy, Ian Thomas-Moore netting for Tranmere, before Enoch Showunmi made it two wins from two as he netted the only goal in a 1-0 success over Notts County in League One.
Six weeks later, Tranmere lost their next away game despite coming from behind twice to level against Rochdale, with the game eventually finishing 3-2 on New Years Day, before Rovers then lost 2-0 to MK Dons at Stadium:MK in their next away game, having just 26% of the possession in the match,
Other
impressive results away from home for Tranmere this season include wins
over Bristol Rovers (1-0) and Walsall (4-1) and another win over Walsall, this time 1-0 in the League Cup.
Les
Parry's
side have played 13 away league games this season and picked up 15 of an
available 39 points, this thanks to four wins, three draws and six
defeats.
Notable
results at Prenton Park for Tranmere this season include victories over
Southampton (2-0), MK Dons (4-2), Sheffield Wednesday (3-0) and Peterborough
United (1-0).
Les
Parry's side currently lie in 15th place in League One, having picked
up 37 of an available 84 points from 28 games, thanks to ten wins, seven
draws and eleven defeats.
Double Hit:
Colin Clarke is a former Northern Ireland international striker who represented both Tranmere Rovers and Peterborough United in his career.Starting his career with Ipswich Town, Clarke failed to make an appearance for the Tractor Boys, moving to Peterborough in 1981.
Clarke stayed with the Posh for three years, and spent time on loan at Gillingham whilst with the club. He made a total of 82 appearances and scored eighteen times for Peterborough before joining Tranmere Rovers in 1984.
Staying for just one season on the Wirral, Clarke netted an impressive 22 goals in 45 games for the club, and it was to Tranmere's regreat that he didn't stay for longer as he joining Bournemouth in 1985.
Again, Clarke was only with the club for a year, as after moving up from Division Four to Division Three, he netted 26 times in 46 games and was quickly snapped up by Division One side Southampton.
A three year stay with the Saints saw him net 36 goals in 82 games before he re-joined Bournemouth and then laterly QPR and Portsmouth before retiring in 1993.
A terrific goalscorer, Clarke also scored 13 goals in 38 games for Northern Ireland before he retired for playing to embark on a coaching career.
To this day, Clarke is still in the game as a coach, and having managed the likes of FC Dallas in the MLS, he now coaches the Puerto Rico national team, as well as Puerto Rican league side the Puerto Rico Islanders.
One To Watch:
With five goals already this season, Craig MacKail-Smith is one of the men to watch for Peterborough on Saturday afternoon.
The
striker, who has history already against Rovers having scored against
them three times during the 08/09 season, showed himself to be a star
performer in this division as he helped Peterborough to promotion that
year, and is already showing his ability and goalscoring form this year.
The
26-year old started his career with St. Albans City before moving on to
Arslesey Town in 2003, netting 17 times in 54 games for the club.
A
year later, he secured himself a transfer to Dagenham and Redbridge for
an undisclosed fee, where he established himself as a consistent and
threatening performer in Non League football.
Having scored 38
times for the club from 106 appearances in the league, MacKail-Smith
moved to Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee in January 2007 and
has quickly become one of the most clinical finishers in the lower
leagues.
In his first full season with the club, MacKail-Smith netted nineteen times, including four goals in an F.A. Cup tie against Staines Town, before netting 26 times in the following campaign as he helped Peterborough to promotion for the second year running.
The goals
practically dried up last season as Peterborough struggled and were
relegated from the Championship, but this season the striker has once
again shown his goalscoring prowess, and has, to date, netted 69 times
in 162 games for the club.
MacKail-Smith wears the number twelve
shirt for Peterborough, and along with Aaron MacLean, who has also
netted five times this season, he is sure to be a tough opponent for
Tranmere's defenders on Saturday.
Around League One:
Due to the continued involvement of several League One sides in the F.A. Cup, there are just eight fixtures in the division this Saturday:
Bournemouth vs. Huddersfield
Bristol Rovers vs. Oldham
Charlton vs. Exeter
Colchester vs. Walsall
Hartlepool vs. MK Dons
Peterborough vs. Tranmere
Rochdale vs. Southampton
Swindon vs. Carlisle
Team News:
Dale Jennings should return to the Tranmere squad after missing the last two games with a muscle injury, but Tranmere boss Les Parry is unlikely to change a Tranmere starting eleven that has won it's last two games, meaning Lucas Akins will retain his place in the side.
Timothy Cathalina and Zoum Bakayogo returned to Tranmere's substitutes bench for Tuesday's 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, meaning Les Parry has plenty of extra options available, whilst Robbie Weir, newly signed from Sunderland, should be on the bench too.
Tranmere
will however be without Ryan Fraughan and Marlon Broomes who will both
be out for some time with knee ligament injuries, whilst this game comes
too early for Max Blanchard who only returned to training last week and needs reserve team matches first.
Jones' Prediction: Peterborough 2-3 Tranmere
Both of these teams have shown they are well capable of scoring goals this season, so we could well see a bit of a goal fest at London Road on Saturday afternoon.
I believe Tranmere will come out on top in this fixture, though, picking up a vital three points that could pull them even closer to the top six.
After two solid and reasonably big wins in the past week, the squad will be full of confidence and will hopefully push on and forward in an attempt to pick up another massive three points this weekend.
With Lateef Elford-Alliyu on fire and Enoch Showunmi now back in the goals, Rovers look good going forward, despite not starting with either of Dale Jennings or Andy Robinson in their last two matches.
Their defence too has looked fantastic in recent weeks, with just two goals conceded in their last five matches, as Mark McChrystal, Tony Warner and Michael Kay have slotted brilliantly in to the starting line up.
Peterborough though do have one of the best attacks in the division, with Craig Mackail-Smith a very profitable striker who will need to be marked carefully by Rovers' centre-backs.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011:02:19:23:48:35 by Deadly Submarine.
i would be delighted with a draw but think they will just beat us 2 1
Before the Wednesday game, they had 7 points from the last 6, Tranmere had 9. Now Tranmere have 11 and they have 10, so Tranmere have 1 more point on form.
Tranmere have also won their last 2 games scoring 6 and conceding 1 with a +5 goal difference and a clean sheet.
Peterborugh have won 1 of their two games, do have a clean sheet but a goal difference of -1 scoring 4 goals to Tranmeres 6.
So Tranmere have better scoring form in 2 games, overall form in 6 and a better win record in the last 2 games.
Tranmere have a stronger team from last time, whereas they don't have Mclean anymore. Tranmere might possibly not have Jennings for Saturday, but then they didn't last time anyway as he wasn't in the squad, so that crumb of comfort for Peterborough will be less than it would have been, if he had been in the squad.
Lateef is on the same kind of form as Mackail-Smith, so it should be evens in a striker comparison, but Enoch is enjoying a 2 and 2 assists in 2 games average, so would be looking to extend his form of late.
If Robbo plays at all it could be an interesting game too.
Plau Tranmere have the win over Peterborough too. So only home advantage is the plus point for them, going into the game.
I think a draw is possible of course, but I'm going for either 1-0 or 2-1 Tranmere. I think Tranmere's greater scoring in the last 2, could be just the edge that wins it for them.
Frecklington will not feature for them, as he is needing a Hernia operation.
I'd take a point.
I would be more confident id Jennings was playing rather than Adkins. I am great believer in picking your best side rather than the last winning one.The last 2 games have been against two pretty poor defences.Adkins limitations will be more exposed against Posh
He's gotten a better a bit recently when played, but I'd still be concerned that his improvement and experience wouldn't make him a safeguard against their players in a way McChrystal is.
Jennings hopefully will play if he's been seen as able to train okay. I'm also hoping Robbo might get a full game if his pesky little Calf has become better again.