Opposition Lowdown: Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough United

Reading return from the international break with an away trip to Peterborough United. Join us as we take a closer look at the opposition.

Form

Peterborough finished last season in fourth place in the league, securing a spot in the playoffs. They played fifth-placed Oxford United in the semi-finals but lost 1-2 on aggregate, making it a second straight season that they missed out on the final to the eventual winner. This marks their third straight season in the third tier, having been relegated from the Championship in 2022, when they finished 22nd in the league.

The Posh sit in 12th place in the league after six wins, three draws and six losses. Their recent form has been mixed, seeing two wins, one draw and two losses in their last five games. Their last match saw them hammer local rivals Cambridge United 6-1 in the league, with Kwame Poku scoring a hat-trick.

The Posh and The Royals met on the first day of last season, with Peterborough claiming a 0-1 win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, before the two sides played out a 2-2 draw on Boxing Day.

The boss

Darren Ferguson: Son of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, Darren is currently in his fourth stint as manager of Peterborough. Having played for the likes of Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wrexham, Ferguson started his managerial career at Peterborough, where he joined the club as player-manager in 2007.

He had a strong start to his managerial career, winning back-to-back promotions with the club, finishing second in League Two in his first full season in 2008 and then securing another second-placed finish in League One in 2009. He left the Posh in November 2009 with the club sitting bottom of the Championship.

A spell at Championship Preston North End followed at the start of 2010, but he didn’t quite see the year out, as he was sacked in December. Ferguson returned to Peterborough in January 2011 and was at the club for another four and a half years, securing promotion back to the Championship via the playoffs.

A stint at Doncaster Rovers followed in 2015, before a second return to The Posh in 2019. He resigned in February 2022 but returned to the club in January last year, guiding them to sixth- and fourth-placed finishes in the league.

Ferguson usually favours a 4-4-2 formation and like his side to play possession football.

Squad

Peterborough lost a handful of key defenders over the summer, with left-back Harrison Burrows leaving for Sheffield United and centre-back Ronnie Edwards joining Premier League Southampton. Striker Jonson Clarke-Harris also left the club, signing for League One rivals Rotherham United.

They used the money generated from key sales to sign defenders Rio Adebisi (Crewe Alexandra) and George Nevvett (Rochdale), midfielder Chris Conn-Clarke (Altrincham) and forwards Gustav Lindgren (Degerfors) and Bradley Ihionvien (Colchester United).

They also completed the signings of defenders Jack Sparkes and Oscar Wallin and wingers Cian Hughes and Abraham Odoh. Three players joined on loan including Manchester City academy duo Mahamadou Susoho and Jadel Katongo, as well as defender Sam Curtis, who signed from Sheffield United.

Peterborough are expected to be without goalkeeper Jed Steer, defenders Jadel Katongo and Rio Adebisi, midfielder Hector Kyprianou and forward Bradley Ihionvien this weekend.

Predicted lineup

Bilokapic, Wallin, Fernandez, Dornelly, Sparkes, Collins, De Havilland, Randall, Poku, Mothersille, Jones

Key player

Kwame Poku: Midfielder Poku joined Peterborough in August 2021, signing from Colchester United. He started his youth career at Cray Wanderers before joining Worthing in 2019. Later that year he signed for Colchester United.

Poku made his Football League debut in September 2019 and went on to play 75 games for Colchester, scoring six goals and logging eight assists. He joined Peterborough in August 2021 and has gone on to represent the Posh 133 times, scoring 28 goals. 10 of those goals have come this season, with Poku sitting second in the League One top scorers table. The 23-year-old scored a hat-trick in Peterborough’s last game against Cambridge.

He is also a Ghanaian international with one cap to his name, making his debut in 2021. Poku can play in the number 10 role or on the wing and is a skilful and tricky attacking threat.

One to watch

Ricky-Jade Jones: Forward Jones is a product of the Peterborough youth academy, who made his debut for the club at the age of 16. His debut came in an EFL Trophy game against Arsenal under-21s in 2019. He scored his first goal for the club in the same competition, the following month.

Since his debut, Jones has gone on to make 165 appearances for the Posh, scoring 31 goals. The 22-year-old has played a part in all of Peterborough’s league games this season and has seven goals to his name across all competitions.

Jones can play as either a striker or a winger and has electric pace.