Preston North End Vs Peterborough United
Coca-Cola Championship Saturday 22nd August 2009
North End's first win on the road this term coincided with their first league win of the season meaning that the Lilywhites now boast a record of a win and two draws. As a result, Alan Irvine's men still posses their unbeaten record heading into Saturday's visit of Peterborough.
Darren Ferguson's side travel north on the back of a defeat to West Brom in midweek but did show great spirit to fight back. Despite looking dead and buried at 3-0 down heading into the break, The Posh pulled one back through Craig Mackail-Smith before powerhouse forward Aaron McLean halved the Baggies' lead with a goal of his own on 53 minutes.
That sort of grit and determination is exactly what Darren Ferguson will be looking for on Saturday and if their last campaign is anything to go by, The Posh could prove to be a real unknown quantity on Saturday afternoon.
Previous Meetings
Due to Peterborough's only immediate meteoric rise to the Championship, the last time North End came up against the Cambridgeshire side was during the 1996/1997 season. Sadly for North End that season The Posh did the double over their Lancashire counterparts thanks to a 2-0 win at London Road and out-edging North End in a seven goal thriller at Deepdale.
North End's record against Peterborough, albeit a long time since their last meeting, has been, in a word, dismal. Preston's last win against The Posh came way back when Led Zeppelin and co were still in their prime in the late 70s. Tuesday 12th October 1976 was the day when North End hammered Peterborough 6-2 at Deepdale in the old Third Division.
That win was the last of just three to be recorded whilst the Posh have been the victors on no fewer than eight occasions, five of those being at London Road where North End have never won.
Team News
Midfielder Richard Chaplow is set to return to contention after sitting out the 3-0 win over Barnsley on Tuesday. The former West Brom man was complaining of a tight hamstring as well as feeling slightly under the weather and thus was not risked.
Liam Chilvers and Sean St Ledger are set to continue in defence due to Youl Mawene's hamstring problem whilst Darren Carter will be hoping he has done enough to keep his place.