Walsall Football Club

The Saddlers are back on the road this afternoon...

OVERVIEW:
The second-placed Saddlers will be hoping to maintain their 100% away league record this weekend. Walsall can go top of League One if they better the result of leaders Gillingham, who are away at Colchester. Opponents Peterborough are without a manager following Dave Robertson’s departure a fortnight ago, and will have Grant McCann in caretaker charge. They are in 18th position after thrashing Oldham 5-1 last weekend.

LAST FIVE LEAGUE MATCHES: (Most recent match first)
Peterborough: WLDLL
Walsall: WLWWW

LAST TIME OUT:
Saturday, 12th September – Oldham 1-5 Peterborough
Braces from Souleymane Coulibaly and debutant Lee Angol earned Posh a resounding win. Erhun Oztumer was also on target for the visitors, while Rhys Murphy bagged Oldham’s consolation.
Team: Alnwick, Smith, Zakuani, Almeida Santos, Elder, J Anderson, Oztumer (Da Silva Lopes 84’), Forrester (Collison 71’), Maddison (Taylor 77’), Angol, Coulibaly. Subs not used: Washington, Davey, H Anderson, Henry.

Saturday, 12th September – Walsall 2-0 Doncaster
Tom Bradshaw’s stunning late double gave Walsall a hard-fought victory over managerless Doncaster.
Team: Etheridge, O’Connor, Downing, Taylor, Demetriou, Chambers, Mantom, Lalkovic (Cook 73’), Henry (Morris 66’), Sawyers, Bradshaw. Subs not used: Baxendale, Forde, MacGillivray, Preston, Flanagan.

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Peterborough wins: 15
Walsall wins: 19
Draws: 12

LAST MEETING:
Saturday, 6th April 2015 – Peterborough 0-0 Walsall
A goalless draw at London Road stretched Walsall’s winless run to seven games in all competitions. Saddlers stopper Richard O’Donnell produced fine saves to thwart David Norris, Harry Anderson and Luke Jones. Michael Cain went closest for Walsall, who failed to score for a fourth consecutive match.

PETERBOROUGH CARETAKER MANAGER:
Grant McCann – The 35-year-old is in caretaker charge following Dave Robertson’s departure. Capped 39 times by Northern Ireland, McCann represented seven different clubs in a 17-year playing career – winning promotions with Cheltenham, Scunthorpe and Peterborough, for whom he made over 150 appearances. The diminutive midfielder also played for West Ham, Barnsley and Linfield.

PETERBOROUGH STAR MAN:
Marcus Maddison – The 21-year-old midfielder is Peterborough’s top scorer with five goals so far this campaign. A former Newcastle youth player, Maddison moved to London Road from Gateshead for £250,000 in August 2014. He has netted 13 goals in 40 appearances for Posh.

VIEW FROM THE PETERBOROUGH CAMP:
Grant McCann (on playing Walsall) – "I've told the players that they're a good footballing team, which will suit us. They're a good team and are flying high in the league. They're second after a good win against Doncaster and it'll be a tough game, but one I expect us to go into with a positive attitude on the back of our performance last week."

TEAM NEWS:
Peterborough: Kgosi Ntlhe is undergoing a toe operation. Jack Baldwin is also expected to miss out.
Walsall: Isaiah Osbourne has a knee injury. No other injury concerns.

REFEREE:
Mark Heywood (from Cheshire).

STAT OF THE DAY:
The last three meetings between the two sides have ended in goalless draws.

THIS AFTERNOON’S LEAGUE ONE FIXTURES: (3.00pm unless stated)
Blackpool vs. Barnsley
Bury vs. Port Vale
Colchester vs. Gillingham
Coventry vs. Chesterfield
Doncaster vs. Oldham
Millwall vs. Southend
Rochdale vs. Scunthorpe
Shrewsbury vs. Crewe
Swindon vs. Burton
Wigan vs. Fleetwood