Peterborough United vs Luton Town

A look ahead to Tuesday night’s Sky Bet Championship fixture with Luton Town.

Peterborough United welcome promotion contenders Luton Town to the Weston Homes Stadium in Sky Bet Championship action on Tuesday evening (7.45pm) with Grant McCann’s men looking to bounce back from Saturday’s second half showing against another play-off hopeful, Chris Wilder’s Middlesbrough.

The Hatters are currently in fourth place in the Championship table, three points clear of seventh place after a 2-2 draw with Millwall at Kenilworth Road on Saturday thanks to a late own goal from Jake Cooper.

TEAM NEWS

Posh are without the services of skipper Oliver Norburn due to a serous knee injury. Manager Grant McCann confirmed in the pre-match press conference that he is expected to be out for a lengthy period of time due to an ACL injury.

Nathan Thompson (shoulder), Dan Butler (ankle) and Steven Benda (finger) are definitely out, but defenders Ronnie Edwards and Mark Beevers are available again after Covid-19 and a family issue ruled them out of the weekend fixture. Joel Randall returned to training on Monday after injury, but won’t be involved in the squad.

Fred Onyedinma is pushed for a start after coming off the bench to replace Harry Cornick while the experience of Robert Snodgrass remains a viable option for Nathan Jones. He was another to come off the bench on Saturday.

FROM THE GAFFER

“Nathan has done an incredible job at Luton, they are riding a crest of wave at the minute, they are a strong team, it will be a tough game because they have a certain way of playing and we will have to be really strong. They have a real energy and aggression and strengths all over the pitch, but we need to focus on us and make sure we stick to our game plan and get it right. For me, we can’t be as passive as we were on Saturday. We lacked aggression and we need to get that back and if we do that we give ourselves the best chance of winning the game,” Grant McCann said.

TICKET NEWS

Tickets are on sale at www.theposhtickets.com and via the Weston Homes Stadium Box Office. Luton Town have sold over 3,300 tickets and will occupy the Deskgo Stand and blocks A and B in the Main North Stand.

POSH PLUS

The game is available both domestically and overseas with match passes available now for £10.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

The referee is Thomas Bramall.

Jonson Clarke-Harris netted a deserved late equaliser for Posh to earn a 1-1 draw with Luton Town.

Copy

Peterborough United picked up a deserved point against Luton Town thanks to a late Jonson Clarke-Harris header, but will feel they should have taken all three points after missing a couple of presentable chances in front of goal.

Posh were a whisker away from a breakthrough on five minutes as a corner kick from Joe Ward was met powerfully by Frankie Kent, but goalkeeper James Shea made a fine save. Shea was at it again moments later as Harrison Burrows let fly from distance, the keeper doing well to parry it to safety.

Fuchs and Mpanzu were both cautioned for fouls within 60 seconds of each other as referee Thomas Bramall stamped down his authority. The powerful Adebayo was superbly denied by goalkeeper Dai Cornell on 18 minutes after a deep cross to the back post.

Luton were forced into a change just after the half hour mark as Henri Lansbury replaced the injured Cameron Jerome. Kwame Poku fired wide with his left-foot after a slick Posh move with Josh Knight providing the overlap on the near side.

Ward saw a shot blocked on 41 minutes before Jack Marriott was shown a yellow card after a small melee following the award of a free-kick to the visitors. Cornell made a smart stop to keep out substitute Henri Lansbury’s effort two minutes into the second half.

The visitors opened the scoring on 48 minutes as a low cross from the right was turned home from close-range by Danny HYLTON. Marriott saw a near post effort kept out by Shea as Poku also saw a shot blocked.

Poku fired over from long-range after wriggling into a bit of space on 65 minutes as Posh pushed for a leveller. Grant McCann made a change two minutes later with Ricky-Jade Jones replacing Marriott in attack. Jones was cautioned on 73 minutes with Kent and Campbell booked moments earlier.

Posh made another change as the game entered the final quarter with Sammie Szmodics replacing Kent as McCann switched formation. Jones should have levelled as the game moved towards the last 10 minutes as Ward picked him out at the back post, but he couldn’t adjust and fired wide.

Posh levelled the scores on 87 minutes as a delicious cross from Ward was powered home by CLARKE-HARRIS for his 10th goal of the campaign. Deep into stoppage time, Clarke-Harris struck the post from 25-yards after a rousing finale before the referee brought an end to an entertaining contest.

Posh: Cornell, Edwards, Kent (sub Szmodics 73min), Taylor, Clarke-Harris, Knight, Marriott (sub Jones 67min), Poku, Burrows, Ward, Fuchs. Unused subs: Blackmore, Brown, Grant, Mumba, Fernandez.

Luton: Shea, Bree, Naismith, Hylton (sub Bradley 81min), Adebayo, Mpanzu, Kioso, Campbell, Onyedinma (sub Cornick 89min), Bell, Jerome (sub Lansbury 31min). Unused subs: Isted, Potts, Snodgrass, Mendes-Gomes.

Referee: Thomas Bramall

Half-time: Peterborough United 0-0 Luton Town
Full-time: Peterborough United 1-1 Luton Town
Attendance: 10,940 (3,691 Luton fans)