The key duels with Wembley at stake

Posh have one foot on the Wembley turf, but there are still battles to be won before a place in the League One playoff final on Monday, May 29 is confirmed.

Here are the key duels that need to be won at Hillsborough on Thursday night.

EDWARDS v SMITH

Sheffield Wednesday have a couple of ways they can play. Either they try to make use of Barry Bannan at the heart of the midfield, or they use the height of players such as Aden Flint, Michael Ihiekwe, Callum Paterson and Michael Smith to bombard the box.

That would likely see 6”3 striker Michael Smith latch onto the considerably smaller Posh centre-back Ronnie Edwards to try and get the better of him in the air.

On the deck Edwards should be the far more dominant player. He will find it easy to combat Smith’s press.

TAYLOR v BANNAN

Jack Taylor was a comfortable winner of a battle between two of League One’s best midfielders at London Road.

Taylor claimed a goal and an assist and delivered exciting driving runs forward.

Barry Bannon will be smarting about how ineffective he was in possession. If Wednesday give him more help in midfield the 33 year-old former Aston Villa man would expect to have a far greater influence on the game.

MASON-CLARK v IORFA

The Posh forward and the Sheffield Wednesday defender had a superb tussle in the first leg, full of rapid pace and shuddering physical confrontations.

Ephron Mason-Clark rarely broke free of Dominic Iorfa’s attentions, but he did set up the third Posh goal for Kwame Poku with a sumptuous cross.

Posh will expect to play on the break at Hillsborough which makes Mason-Clark a key man. Iorfa is the one Wednesday player capable of keeping up with him.

CLARKE-HARRIS v FLINT

If Posh are to spend long periods without the ball, they will need it to stick to skipper Jonson Clarke-Harris when it does travel forward. He will be key to Posh retaining possession and getting up the field.

The defensive work of Clarke-Harris at set pieces will also be vital and Aden Flint, no stranger to scoring against Posh, is one of many aerial threats Wednesday possess.