McKenna: We're Going to Be Facing a Wounded Peterborough Team Thursday, 8th Dec 2022 17:29 Town boss Kieran McKenna expects to face a wounded Peterborough United team in front of a Portman Road crowd of more than 26,000 over Saturday lunchtime (KO 12.30pm). Posh, who were relegated from the Championship in May, are sixth in League One, 11 points behind the second-placed Blues, and have lost four in a row in all competitions, recording one win in their last seven. They have lost three in a row in League One, including last week’s 2-1 home defeat to fourth-placed Barnsley, although prior to that they had won three league games on the bounce. Away from home in League One this season, they have won three, lost seven and are yet to record a draw. Only two sides have conceded more than Posh’s 19 on the road in the division. Quizzed on how dangerous Peterborough might be coming off the back of their recent run, McKenna said: “I think we are going to be facing a wounded team, no doubt about that, because they lost their last home game and they are not on a good run, results-wise. “But I think they would be extremely dangerous anyway. They have such a powerful squad, such a strong team, an experienced manager, [Grant McCann] have kept almost their entire team from the Championship last year. “I am sure they would have expected to be a dominant force in the division — and they have shown in certain games that they can be and they have been a threat across all their games really. “We know it is going to be a big challenge. We are glad to be going into the game in the position that we are in, but we know that we are going to have to be at our best. “Overall, I think it is a really exciting game for us, a big fixture, fairly local as far as Ipswich goes. There’s going to be a big crowd and coming into the Christmas period, it is a great game for us and we are looking forward to it.”  Posh’s abject form led to chairman Darragh MacAnthony launching a scathing attack on his players earlier in the week, however, McKenna says he’s paid little attention to what's been said. “I’ve not looked into it much, to be honest,” he said. “I think that’s an internal discussion for Peterborough to have. “Of course, we know they’re a very good team, we know they’re going to be disappointed with the result last weekend and looking for a response this weekend. “We know the team we’re going to face and our focus has just been getting ready for that.” McKenna, whose team will be looking to climb above leaders Plymouth who are at Cambridge United in a Saturday 3pm kick-off, says the Blues and Posh have a similar outlook: “We always try and be front-foot and dominate games and take it to the opposition. “And Peterborough are an aggressive, front-foot team as well with a lot of attacking threat throughout their team, so it bodes for a good game. “We are looking forward to it, it’s a big challenge and a big crowd — let’s bring it on. “They are a very strong team who have won a lot of matches, but who have lost more than they would have wanted. “It’s early in the season, we are not even halfway yet, and I am sure they are going to be looking to push on. It is up to us to meet that challenge, face-on, and try and stay as far ahead of them as we can for now.”
Among Peterborough’s threats is 12-goal League One top scorer Jonson Clarke-Harris, although McKenna says danger also comes from elsewhere in their side. “But they have got goals right through their team. They have got goals from the wide areas, they have goals from attacking midfield, they are a team who create a lot. “If you look at the underlying numbers at the moment, we are the team who create the most chances, but they are creating the second most — and for good reason when you see their squad, and they play with quite an attacking mentality.” Conditions are expected to be at or close to freezing at Portman Road on Saturday with the protective tent erected above the pitch, however, McKenna says the cold snap hasn’t hampered the week’s work at Playford Road. “No, it’s been OK,” he said. “The temperature’s dropped a fair bit but the frost hasn’t hit too deep yet and we’ve had a really good training week.” McKenna, who reported no new injuries at his Thursday lunchtime press conference, may well pick the same side which drew 1-1 with Fleetwood last Friday. If that’s the case, Christian Walton will be in goal with Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess at the back and Leif Davis and Wes Burns in the wide roles. Skipper Sam Morsy and Cameron Humphreys will be in the centre of the midfield with Conor Chaplin and Kyle Edwards probably the number 10s behind Freddie Ladapo. Sone Aluko is expected to return to the bench for the first time since August having recovered from his knee injury and is likely to be introduced some time after the half-hour mark. Peterborough boss McCann has an almost fully fit squad to pick from but with keeper Harvey Cartwright due to return to training on Monday following a thigh injury and midfielder Oliver Norburn still sidelined with a knee problem. Defender Joe Tomlinson has returned to training after bone bruising. “We have worked hard this week in the build-up to a game that we are very much looking forward to,” McCann told his club’s official website. “I am sure it will be a good atmosphere, there will be a big crowd and when I was a player, I used to relish those opportunities. “Ipswich are in a good place in the league table, but it is about how we perform, we know that need to be more consistent with our performances.” In addition to chairman MacAnthony’s comments, McCann has come under fire from fans on social media during his side’s recent run, however, he says he pays no heed. “I haven’t got this far in my career by listening to comments on social media or anything like that,” he told the Peterborough Telegraph. “I’ve worked so hard to get where I am and I won't do something just because Joe Bloggs down the street believes it's the right thing to do. “That’s not me being arrogant. It’s a flippant comment really, but we always pick a team and a formation which we believe are right for the game coming up. “We have mixed formations predominantly between 3-5-2 and a 4-3-3 this season and we’ve been good and we’ve been poor in both formations. “We need to become consistent and stick to our principles and philosophies no matter what formation we play. “You have to be thick-skinned to be a football manager. I have a good family behind me. They are my rock, my support and I am focused on just one thing and that’s getting three points at Ipswich.” Historically, Posh have the upper hand, winning eight times (four in the league), five matches having ended in draws (four) and the Blues having been victorious on three occasions (just once in the league). Town are without a victory in their last six in the league against Posh and have won only two between the clubs in their last 13 meetings, a 3-2 home success under Paul Jewell’s management in March 2012, the Blues’ only win against Peterborough at Portman Road, and a 6-5 on-penalties victory at London Road following a 1-1 draw in what was then the EFL Trophy in December 2019. The teams last met at London Road in February 2021 when James Norwood gave Town an early lead but goals from Clarke-Harris and Joe Ward saw Peterborough to a 2-1 victory. Norwood hit his third goal of the season in the sixth minute but Clarke-Harris headed a leveller in the 38th minute and then Ward won it with a free-kick five minutes after the break. The previous month at Portman Road, loan defender Mark McGuinness’s 69th minute own goal saw Peterborough to a 1-0 win. Clarke-Harris missed a penalty for Posh in a dull first half and the game improved little in a second in which McGuinness scuffed past his own keeper to win three points for the visitors who otherwise didn’t manage a shot on target, while the Blues registered merely two. Currently injured Blues midfielder Dom Ball spent almost two months on loan with Posh between January and February 2017, making six starts and scoring one goal. Town striker Kayden Jackson underwent a medical at London Road in the summer of 2018, Posh having agreed a fee with Accrington before the frontman ultimately opted to join the Blues. Academy head of player and coaching development Bryan Klug was a player with Peterborough between 1984 and 1985. Posh striker Jack Marriott came through the Blues' youth system and made one League Cup start and two Championship sub appearances before being released in May 2015. The frontman is in his second spell with Peterborough having rejoined them after leaving Derby in the summer of 2021. Saturday’s referee is Ollie Yates from Staffordshire, who has shown 80 yellow cards and one red in 19 games so far this season. Yates's last Town game was the 1-0 win at Doncaster in February in which he booked Donacien and winning goalscorer Tyreeq Bakinson. Prior to that, he took control of the 0-0 home draw with AFC Wimbledon in April 2021 in which he yellow-carded Gwion Edwards, who coincidentally joined the Blues from Posh, and no one else. Yates was also in charge of the 2-1 win at Plymouth in December 2020 in which he dismissed Pilgrims winger Danny Mayor for two bookable offences and also cautioned Dai Cornell, Brett McGavin and two other home players. Yates’s only other Town match was the 0-0 home draw with Doncaster in September 2019 in which he booked Flynn Downes and five of the visitors. Squad from: Walton, Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Keogh, Burgess, Burns, Vincent-Young, Davis, Leigh, Morsy, Humphreys, Edwards, Chaplin, Aluko, Ladapo, Jackson, Ahadme.
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