Tuesday night sees a full slate of League One games, with plenty of teams looking to bounce back from performances over the weekend.
One team who will be looking to get back on track are Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough United. Now winless in their last four, and being handed three straight losses in a row, alarm bells are well and truly ringing.
As a result, Posh have now slipped down to fifth in the table, a whole ten points off of league leaders Portsmouth. They are still in the fight for an automatic promotion spot, however their chances are slowly slipping away from them.
They do have a great chance to get back on track though, as they welcome Port Vale to London Road. The Valiants are in a similar poor vein of form currently and are yet to pick up a win in 2024. Slight improvements were seen in their 2-2 draw with Stevenage over the weekend but a win is still eluding them.
With no manager and being sat in the relegation places currently, times are rather bleak. It looks likely that there will be a new manager at the club within the next week, but that may not impact Tuesday’s game.
Both teams will be wanting wins for different reasons, Peterborough will see this as a must-win game to keep their promotion hopes alive whereas Port Vale need a win to aid their survival chances.
Two of The Real EFL’s writing team give their opinion on how the game will play out…
“A huge game with implications at either end of the table. Both sides come into this out of form and it represents a good opportunity for one of them to put a win on the board.
You do have to say though, it’s a must-win for Peterborough if they want to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive. Having looked at one point Portsmouth’s biggest threat for the title, they’re now potentially more concerned with making the play-offs rather than winning the title.
They do however have the ideal opportunity to get back on track as they host an out-of-form Port Vale. I see Peterborough bouncing back with a win, which would in turn provide a much needed confidence boost. A draw doesn’t really benefit either of the two sides so it could be a rather attacking affair.”
Peterborough 3-1 Port Vale
“Peterborough’s season has quickly turned from discussions on whether they win the title, to whether they’re even in the fight for automatic promotion anymore, and that shift in thinking does not feel reactive. Their January transfer window was uncharacteristically poor, and their lack in the right back department, as well as an insistence to not change goalkeepers could become their downfall.
However, they face a Port Vale side who are currently sittingin the relegation zone without a win in 2024. They did somewhat turn around their fortunes in the last minute on Saturday to earn a point from the jaws of defeat against Stevenage, which will give the squad a much-needed boost. Saying that however, Posh are not going to be pushovers and will need to bounce back sooner rather than later, and this may be a game Ferguson is targeting to do just that. A narrow home victory is how I see this going, but the Valiants will be able to take some positives from it.”
Peterborough 3-2 Port Vale
Senior Editor
