A look ahead to the Sky Bet League One fixture against Blackpool at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday (3pm).
Peterborough United welcome Blackpool to the Weston Homes Stadium in Sky Bet League One action on Saturday afternoon (3pm), the first of two fixtures against the Seasiders with Darren Ferguson’s men travelling to Bloomfield Road in the semi-final of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy on Tuesday evening.
Posh were due to face Port Vale earlier this week, but that fixture was postponed to a waterlogged pitch so Ferguson’s men go into the game with a little bit of freshness with Neil Critchley’s men losing 2-0 at Cheltenham Town.
TEAM NEWS
Manager Darren Ferguson has confirmed that all of his squad trained on Thursday with the exception of Jacob Wakeling and Will Blackmore. Wakeling is due to face six weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury, while Blackmore is recovering from a hip injury.
Kwame Poku is fit and available for selection while Michael Olakigbe is also back in the squad after serving a one-match suspension at Wycombe following his red-card at Exeter City. Ephron Mason-Clark has also recovered from a knock that kept him out of the defeat at Adam’s Park.
Blackpool striker Jordan Rhodes has missed the last few games with injury but should return to the squad for the clash at the Weston Homes Stadium. Oliver Norburn was an unused substitute at Cheltenham and is expected to be back in the starting line-up.
ONE TO WATCH
Karamoko Dembele (pictured below) joined the Seasiders in August 2023 on loan from French Ligue 1 side Stade Brestois. The 20-year-old grew a reputation during his youth career with Celtic, making his first-team debut at just 16 years of age. Gaining Scotland and England youth caps up to Under 18 level, Dembele eventually left the Scottish Premiership side to move to Ligue 1 with Brest where he made 16 appearances. He is the younger brother of former Posh winger Siriki Dembele, who now plies his trade in the Championship with Birmingham City.
FROM THE MANAGER
“Blackpool are a good side with an experienced coach and it wouldn’t surprise me if they put a run together between now and the end of the season. We are treating the next two games in isolation, we are fully focussed on the league game, which is our priority. It was obviously frustrating that the game with Port Vale was postponed, but there wasn’t anything we could do and the positives are that there is a real freshness to the group,” Darren Ferguson said.
TICKET NEWS
Tickets are on sale at www.theposhtickets.com and via the Weston Homes Stadium Ticket Office. Blackpool fans will be accommodated in the north section of the Main Stand. The GH Display Stand will be open for Posh fans.
POSH+
Match passes are available for overseas subscribers priced at £10, with audio passes also available for £5 with commentary from Nilesh Patel and Chris Dowsett.
Click here to purchase your Posh+ monthly pass or find the package that works for you for this fixture.
HEAD TO HEAD
It was an eventful game at Bloomfield Road earlier this season as Posh ran out 4-2 winners thanks to goals from Ricky-Jade Jones, Kwame Poku, Ephron-Mason Clark and Harrison Burrows. Posh had raced into a 3-0 lead, but the hosts got it back to 3-2 before a late Mason-Clark effort secured all three points.
Click here to watch back the match highlights from that game.
A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS
Oliver Norburn and Hayden Coulson are both on the books at Bloomfield Road and could feature against their former sides. Among the other players to have played for both include; Miles Addison, Kyle Vassell, Jack Payne, David Norris, James Quinn, Neil Wood, James Pullen, Tom Kennedy, Liam Dickinson, Richard Forsyth, Simon Gillet, Colin Daniel, Callum Cooke, Fred Barber, Craig Allardyce, Paul Carden and Darren Bradshaw.
KIT COLOURS
Posh will be in their home kit for the game.
Click here to shop the 2023/24 home kit.
MATCH OFFICIAL
Dean Whitestone is the match referee.