Town defender Luke Woolfenden is targeting two wins on Saturday — one for Town against Peterborough at Portman Road and another later in the day when England take on France in the World Cup with a place in the semi-finals at stake.
The Blues are seeking their first win in three home league games at Portman Road, having seen points surrendered from a winning position against both Cheltenham and Fleetwood, and sixth-placed Posh are on a poor run of form that has seen them lose all of their last three League One fixtures.
Woolfenden said: "Peterborough at home is a big game. They’re one of our closest rivals in this league in terms of the distance between us, so there’s that to it and they will bring a good following.
"They’re also one of the teams expected to be near the top, so that also makes it a massive game. Plus, it’s our last home game before Christmas so we’re looking to send our fans home with an early present of three points.
"I didn’t realise their recent form was so poor and I’m surprised to hear that. But they have a lot of experienced players and I would think they have been together as a group for some time now.
"I don’t think they’ve made that many changes over the last two or three years. They certainly have players up front who carry a threat and can score goals, while at the same time they’ve probably conceded more goals than they would have wanted.”
Posh’s main threat is likely to come from skipper and striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, who tops the League One scoring chart with 12, and Woolfenden is relishing, as he always does, coming up against one of the top performers at this level.
He added: "I think it’s always good to test yourself against the best and as a group I don’t think we’ve failed too many in the time since the gaffer took charge a year ago. It’s good to push yourself and hopefully come out on top.”
The quarter-final clash between old rivals England and France in Qatar will attract an armchair audience of many millions and Woolfenden is upbeat about a happy ending. "It’s a tough one,” he said, "and particularly when you look at the form Kylian Mbappe is in for them.
"But I do fancy us to get through to the last four. We’ve done well so far and I think it can continue. Hopefully, we will beat Peterborough and then it will be good to see England win as well.
"We haven’t really discussed how we’re going to watch it, as a squad or at home. If it was being played in the summer, like the World Cup usually is, we’d probably get together to watch it. But I don’t fancy being in the cold and getting covered in beer.”
Woolfenden praised defensive partner Cameron Burgess for his performances since returning to full fitness following surgery to repair facial fractures which required more than 30 screws after a freak injury in the home win over Bristol Rovers in September.
Burgess is wearing a protective mask and Woolfenden said: "Apart from that you wouldn’t know. It doesn’t appear to have affected him one bit, to be fair. It was a really bad injury and there was a lot of swelling for a couple of weeks, but since his return he doesn’t seem to have been affected and is doing his job as well as he always did.”
Woolfenden also explained why he appeared as a substitute in midfield during the convincing FA Cup win over Buxton, adding: "The gaffer said before the game that he wanted to try me in a new position and I thought he meant the bench!
"It came right out of the blue. We had a few injuries, obviously, with Dominic Ball and Lee Evans both absent, so he put me in there and I enjoyed it. If he wants to try me there again, why not?
"When I was in the U14 and U15 sides I played there a few times, so when the gaffer spoke to me about it, he said it would look better on me if I did it. Another string to my bow.”
Tomorrow’s clash with out-of-form Posh will be Town’s last home appearance before Christmas and on Wednesday the players, alongside management and coaching staff, joined employees from every other department at the club’s party, which took place at Milsoms.
But Woolfenden said he was unaware of any arrangements for a players-only seasonal bash. "I’m not too sure about it,” he said. "We didn’t have it for the past two years because of Covid and I can’t even remember when the last one was. I think it was when Chambo and Skusey were here so it must have been three or four years ago.
"It might be something we can look into, depending on the results and the upcoming fixtures.”
Meanwhile, the former East Bergholt High School pupil admitted it was difficult to ignore Town’s lofty position in League One, where they approach the halfway point in the season currently sitting second, just one point behind leaders Plymouth.
Sheffield Wednesday are a point behind the Blues in third and there is a comfortable nine-point cushion between Kieran McKenna’s men and fourth-placed Barnsley, although the Tykes have a game in hand.
He said: "It’s pretty hard to avoid, to be fair. It’s not something I’m actively thinking about before Christmas, but if I’m looking at Sky Sports, for example, it’s not long before they put the table up and you see exactly where we are.”