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)