AFC Bournemouth
Scott Parker’s side returned to top spot in the Championship after a fourth straight win on Saturday, goals from Philip Billing and Dominic Solanke securing a 2-1 win over Luton Town.
As for Posh, they may have had an extra day to recover, but do go into tomorrow’s fixture off the back of a 3-0 defeat to Coventry City on Friday night.
While home wins against Derby County and Birmingham City have them sat just above the relegation zone, Darren Ferguson’s side have already shipped 20 goals in the opening nine games, more than any other side in the league.
Currently sitting 21st in the Championship, Posh have seven points to their name, with one of their most notable performances coming against high-flying West Brom, agonisingly conceding in the 94th minute to deny them a share of the spoils.
Manager Ferguson is into his second spell at the club, last season guiding the side to second in League One and a first return to the Championship in eight years.
Wednesday night’s match will be the first time the two teams have faced off since 2011, goals from Danny Ings, Steve Fletcher and a certain Adam Smith securing a 3-3 draw at London Road.
Ahead of the clash, afcb.co.uk caught up with Ben Jones who follows the fortunes of Posh week-in-week-out for the Peterborough Telegraph.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED PROFILE
Ground: Weston Homes Stadium
Nickname: Posh
Manager: Darren Ferguson (appointed January 2019)
Club captain: Mark Beevers
Current league position: 21st
Leading goalscorer 2021/22: Jonson Clarke-Harris, Siriki Dembele, Harrison Burrows (two each)
Last game: Coventry City 3-0 Peterborough United (Championship).
afcb.co.uk: How have you found Peterborough’s start to the season?
BJ: It’s been very up and down! It’s always going to be tough coming into a new level of football and, if you ask me, the jump from League One to the Championship is the biggest one in the Football League.
At home, we look like we belong at this level and we’ve had some really good performances. We’ve beaten Derby, we played so well against Cardiff but then Jonson Clarke-Harris had to go off and we drew 2-2.
West Brom again, we played so well and got done by a last-minute winner and then we were absolutely brilliant against Birmingham.
On the road, we’ve been horrendous and we haven’t picked up any points. Five times in five games we’ve conceded twice in less than three minutes. Since we’ve been so bad away, it makes the dropped points at home more frustrating.
afcb.co.uk: As a result of the away form, does it make those home games even more important, knowing they need to capitalise and pick up points?
BJ: Yeah, I think so. We’ve played so well at home, but there is pressure on those games. If we’re going to stay up, we’re going to need to get the majority of our points at home.
This week’s game with Bournemouth is going to be a bit of a free hit. Obviously, Bournemouth are flying and looking to get back into the Premier League. Having said that, as a result of the away form, we should probably be looking at it thinking we need to try and get a point out of it!
afcb.co.uk: What is Peterborough’s aim this season? Are they trying to simply stay in the division or are they looking any higher up?
BJ: If you speak to the club, they just want to grow and they won’t even discuss relegation. If you’re being a realist, 21st place would be absolutely brilliant for the club.
They’ve been stuck in League One for eight years, so literally staying in the division is probably what this season is all about for them and it’ll be great for everyone if they do.
afcb.co.uk: Who’s looked good this season for Peterborough?
BJ: In terms of someone who I would say will definitely play, someone like Jack Taylor has been good. He’s got a bit of everything really – he’s a box-to-box midfielder and he’s got a great shot on him. He’s also got a great range of passing and looks really at home at this level.
At the back, I would probably say Ronnie Edwards. He’s 18 and has just come into the squad, he’s played the last three or four games and looks like he’s been there for all his career.
I think he’s going to go a long way in the game. He’s someone that will pick it up, bring it out of defence and he's not frightened of losing it. He’s got the ability of a forward player despite being a defender. He’ll be so important in starting moves from the back.
afcb.co.uk: How about injuries or suspensions? Is there anyone out of the mid-week game for Posh?
BJ: At the minute, we’ve got a bit of a crisis to be honest!
Siriki Dembele, who was our star player by an absolute mile, limped off against Coventry on Friday night. I’m waiting to speak to the manager for an update on him, but it looked like a pretty bad knee injury at the time.
Jonson Clarke-Harris, who is our only fit striker at the club because Jack Marriott is injured, has an FA ban. We appealed that so he played against Coventry, but we’ve not heard when the hearing is yet so I’m not sure if he’s going to be available.
afcb.co.uk: What’s the mood of the fans at the moment? Are they happy to be playing in the league above or are they demanding better results?
BJ: I think it’s taking a bit of an adjustment. There are definitely some who are frustrated at the way it’s going, so it’s very mixed.
You have got your realists who knew that this season was going to be tough, but now we’re having these problems with injuries, there are questions starting to be asked of the recruitment at the club.
They want to know why we’ve left ourselves with only two senior strikers and one of them was Jack Marriott who is very injury-prone anyway. The phrase our chairman always likes is ‘trust the process’ and there’s a few people who are using that ironically at the moment!
But I do think there’s a general acceptance that the season is going to be tough, although perhaps supporters are thinking that we’ve made it tougher for ourselves and that we haven’t prepared ourselves as well as we could’ve done.
afcb.co.uk: Finally, what’s your score prediction?
BJ: I’ll go 2-1 to Bournemouth. I think they’ll probably edge it on the day.
You can follow Ben on Twitter – @PTBenJones
Officials: Andy Woolmer (referee), Shaun Hudson (assistant), Bhupinder Gill (assistant), Leigh Doughty (fourth official).
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