ON the face if it, the odds are stacked against Colchester United pulling off a surprise at Peterborough this afternoon.
Carl Marston
Colchester soccer secondary story
By Carl Marston
ON the face if it, the odds are stacked against Colchester United pulling off a surprise at Peterborough this afternoon.
On-fire Posh, fresh from promotion last season, are fifth in League One and setting their sights on a second successive promotion. In fact, Darren Ferguson's men have not lost in the league since the end of August.
But dig a little deeper and you can build a case for Colchester taking the East Anglian bragging rights today. It's based on away form, recent history, and player power.
Here's a list of the negatives and pluses:
THE NEGATIVES
1 Posh striker Craig Mackail-Smith is the joint third top scorer in League One with 12 goals
2 Only Hartlepool have scored more goals (21) at home than Posh (19)
3 Posh have not lost in the league for 11 games (six wins and five draws)
4 Posh have only lost once at home, to Hartlepool, in eight league games
5 They are fifth in the table and just three points off the top two
6 They have the momentum from winning promotion last season
7 The U's are fifth from bottom and low on confidence
8 In addition to Mackail-Smith, Posh have proven goalscorers in Aaron Mclean (6) and George Boyd (5)
9 They have only lost three league games all season
10 Manager Darren Ferguson is rated one of the best young managers in the country
THE PLUSES
1 U's new recruit Jermaine Easter scored on his last visit to London Road, for Wycombe
2 Easter's arrival gives the U's a new weapon - pace up front
3 The away form has been sound - seven league and cup wins on the road
4 The U's won on their last trip to Posh - 3-0 (March 25, 2005). Goodfellow, Danns and Keith scored
5 The two previous games at London Road also ended in U's wins - 2-1 in 2003 and 1-0 in 2002
6 The U's have not lost an away game under new manager Paul Lambert
7 The U's are the top goalscorers away from home (17) with MK Dons
8 Recent loanees Easter, Williams and Hills have strengthend the squad
9 Mark Yeates is a potential match-winner in any game
10 Easter scored on his Millwall debut earlier in the season (but then got sent off)
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