Was the Millwall game a turning point or are we destined to continue bumping along at the bottom?

Peterborough United v Derby County
Coca Cola Championship
Peterborough
Saturday 16h January 2010 - 3:00pm

Peterborough United:

Current League Position: 24/24
Leading Scorer: Boyd 9lg 3cp
Manager: Mark Cooper
Kit home: Blue & white shirts/White shorts
Kit away: Sky blue & white shirts/Black shorts
Last game: Tottenham 4 - 0 Peterborough

Quotes from the manager:

Mark Cooper speaking to the BBC about the glut of loan signings made so far this January:

"The proof of the pudding is definitely in the eating. If the results are positive then it's been a successful January transfer window,"

Speaking about Posh's trip to Tenerife following their lay off due to the weather:

"Derby will have prepared properly with their state of the art facilities and if we had been at home we wouldn't have been training,"

"So hopefully going to Tenerife will have been beneficial."

Current Posh Squad:

No - Position - Player
1 Keeper Joe Lewis
3 Defence Tom Williams
4 Defence Craig Morgan
5 Defence Gabriel Zakuani
6 Defence Charlie Lee
7 Midfield Paul Coutts
8 Midfield Lee Frecklington
9 Striker Aaron McLean
10 Midfield George Boyd (captain)
12 Striker Craig Mackail-Smith
13 Keeper James McKeown
14 Midfield Tommy Rowe
15 Midfield Toumani Diagouraga
18 Midfield Chris Whelpdale
19 Midfield Shaun Batt
20 Striker Ben Wright
21 Defence Sam Gaughran
22 Midfield Sergio Torres
23 Midfield Billy Crook
25 Midfield Dominic Green
26 Striker Danny Mills
27 Midfield Romone McCrae
29 Defence Ryan Bennett (on loan from Grimsby Town)
30 Defence Scott Griffiths (on loan from Dagenham & Redbridge)
31 Striker Nathan Koranteng
33 Midfield Josh Simpson
34 Defence Exodus Geohaghon (on loan from Kettering Town)
35 Striker Reuben Reid (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)
36 Midfield Jake Livermore (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)
— Striker Kwesi Appiah
— Striker Aaron Green
— Striker Rene Howe
— Striker Izale McLeod (on loan from Charlton Athletic)
 
The Rams:

Quotes from the manager:

Nigel Clough speaking to the BBC after the Millwall game:

"When you're on the back of three home defeats, we need something like that. Having gone 1-0 down we've clawed it back."

"Millwall are exactly what we thought they were, a very well-organised side and over the two games they were a major threat from set-plays."

"I think I was very, very pleased with their determination, but it won't be just tonight, it will be every single game, that is what we've told them."

Current Rams Squad:
 
No - Position - Player
1 Keeper Stephen Bywater
2 Defender Paul Connolly
3 Defender James McEveley
4 Midfielder Paul Green
5 Defender Miles Addison (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Midfielder Lee Croft
8 Midfielder Robbie Savage (captain)
9 Striker Rob Hulse
10 Midfielder Kris Commons
11 Midfielder Gary Teale
12 Striker Chris Porter
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Shaun Barker
15 Striker Luke Varney
16 Midfielder Stephen Pearson
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfielder Ben Pringle
19 Midfielder Lee Johnson (Loan - Bristol City until 31 January 2010)
20 Striker Steve Davies
21 Midfielder Dean Moxey
22 Midfielder Arnaud Mendy
23 Defender Mark O'Brien
26 Midfielder Lee Hendrie
28 Defender Mitchell Hanson
29 Striker Greg Mills
33 Striker D. J. Campbell (Loan - Leicester City until 31 January 2010)
34 Keeper Ross Atkins
35 Striker Callum Ball
-- Defender Nicky Hunt (Loan - Bolton Wanderers until 7 February 2010)

What the Bookies think:

Home Win: 21/20
Draw: 23/10
Away win: 2/1
First Scorer: Craig Mackail-Smith 11/2, Rob Hulse, Chris Porter 13/2

Information for travelling fans:

Driving: It’s about 70 miles to Peterborough. Lots of possible routes there and seeing as there are a lot of people travelling it's worth setting out early.

The most obvious route to me is to take the A52 past Nottingham and then pick up the A1 South. Take the A15 towards Peterborough and you will arrive at the ground on the right.

If you take the train, the ground is about a mile away and well signposted.

Parking: There is a carpark at the ground or a pay & display on the left as you head towards the town centre.

Drinking: Footballgroundguide.com recommends the Cherry Tree pub on Oundle Rd theough it does coment it is fairly small. There's also the Palmerston Arms further along Oundle Rd. It's not far out of the town however so if you want to avoid queues and crowds, the town centre would seem to be the best bet.

Mick’s Prediction:

It's good to win a game by any means and I'm pleased we're stil in the FA Cup. That said, the manner of the victory and the effort required to overcome a league one club - one that has won away only once this season - speaks volumes about the confidence levels at Pride Park.

The game at London Road will be played in front of Derby's biggest travelling contingent this season and as many of them will be standing you can bet the atmosphere will be good. The players should use this to build their confidence because then the crowd will repay them by getting further behind them.

The crowd don't demand a victory - they demand effort. As long as the players put 100% in, the fans will be behind them.

Team:

Bywater, Hunt, Buxton, Barker, Moxey, Green, Johnson, Commons, Pearson, Porter, Davies.

Subs: Teale, Croft, Barker, Hulse, Campbell, McEveley, Savage, Anderson (if signed in time)…

Prediction:

Posh 2-2 Rams

Photo: Action Images

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