The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Sulkers stay away from the ABAX
First goalscorer: 4/1 Madden (Scunny), 9/2 Novak (Scunny), 5/1 Marriott (Posh), Miller (Posh), Morris (Scunny), van Veen (Scunny), 11/2 Maddison (Posh), Hopper (Scunny), 6/1 Holmes (Scunny), 7/1 Edwards (Posh), Kanu (Posh), Lloyd (Posh), 8/1 Forrester (Posh), 10/1 Bishop (Scunny), 12/1 Ojo (Scunny), Da Silva Lopes (Posh), Anderson (Posh), 16/1 Tafazolli (Posh), Hughes (Posh), Baldwin (Posh).
Experienced centre-back Steven Taylor has compared the current Posh squad favourbaly with some Newcastle United teams of the past.
Taylor made over 250 first team appearances for the Magpies in a 14-year stay at St James Park.
But his first experience of life in the lower divisions has been entirely positive. The 31 year-old has managed to play every minute of the current League One campaign despite the fitness fears of some fans when he signed a two-year contract in the summer.
“It’s been exciting for me,” Taylor announced. “It’s new, but it’s been very enjoyable. The players have accepted me as have the fans and the gaffer has been spot on.
“The training is hard and I get no special treatment. I’ve had a big smile on my face since I signed.
“We have a good team as well and the attitude is great as we showed at Southend on Tuesday.
“When I was at Newcastle there was a tendency for players to sulk when we had a bad run. That would have a negative effect on the team’s morale.
“Players would hide and not want the ball, but that’s not the case here.
“Everyone wanted to get on the ball at Southend and when we got going we played some good stuff going forward. We would have won on another day as their goalkeeper was outstanding.
“We also battled hard defensively against very tough opponents. We had players putting their bodies on the line.
“We are good enough to go up. The attitude has stayed positive even when we lose games. The gaffer must take a lot of the credit for that. The lads have bought into his way of doing things.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve often heard this team tends to fade after Christmas, but hopefully we’ve already had our blip and we will get back to winning ways..
“We’ll take the draw at Southend and move on. You could see our confidence coming back.
“If we can re-produce the energy we showed in that game we will soon start winning matches.
“You never know we could look back at the point from Southend later in the season as a very good one.
“We’re hungry for wins though and we will chase one this weekend at Scunthorpe.” A late own goal rescued a point for Posh in this fixture last season, at a time when Scunthorpe were top of League One.
The season before Posh delivered their best display under Graham Westley when winning 4-0 thanks mainly to a hat-trick from Conor Washington. Michael Bostwick also scored.
It’s usally a tale of woe for Posh in this fixture though. The home side have won 15 and lost just five of 27 Football League encounters against Posh. One took place in the Championship in March 2010. Scunthorpe won 4-0 to ease their own relegation fears, while helping condemnd Posh to the drop. Grant McCann played in that match for Scunthorpe.
Posh: Lewis, Little, Lee, Geohaghen, Zakuani, Frecklington, Rowe, Whelpdale, Torres, Mackail-Smith, Reid. Subs used: Day, Green, Simpson. Posh showed an interest in experienced centre-back Rory McArdle in the summer when he was released by Bradford City, but Scunthorpe made the better offer and he’s been a rock in a top defensive side.
Veteran goalkeeper Matt Gilks, another summer signing from Wigan, has also been in impressive form for the Iron.
Scunthorpe have had more issues up front despite the presence of club legend Paddy Madden. He has scored just twice this season, one fewer than gifted midfielder Josh Morris, a setpiece specialist.
Duane Holmes is a tricky winger, while centre forward Lee Novak has just started making his presence felt after a free transfer move from Millwall in August. Scunthorpe are without a win in six League One matches, although they have been through a tough run of games. They’ve been beaten in recent games by top two Shrewsbury and Wigan as well as by fourth-placed Rotherham. They conceded a late equaliser in Tuesday’s 1-1 home draw with Fleetwood. Scunthorpe have conceded just 10 goals in 14 League One matches, the third best defensive record in the league after the top two. Scunthorpe manager Graham Alexander admits he has been under pressure during his side’s poor run of form. Lee Novak’s goal in a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood on Tuesday was just a second in four matches for the Iron, none of which have been won. Alexander said: “This is our sticky patch. We have had tough fixtures, and suffered tough results, but I don’t think we got the points rewards we deserved from those games.
“But we are not going to bleat about what we haven’t got. The reality of football is that we have to start scoring more – it is simple as that. “There has been pressure, but I’ve been under pressure for 30 years in the game and I can cope with it.”