Peterborough United vs Wigan Athletic | League One Preview

Wigan Athletic are back on the road with a visit to Peterborough United on Tuesday night.

Jan 28, 2025

Part One | An overview of our opponents. 🔎

Part Two | “Who to Watch” players. 👓

Part Three | What can we expect from this game? 🏟️

After two consecutive home games, Wigan Athletic on back on the road as we travel to Peterborough United for a Tuesday night game under the lights of the Weston Homes Stadium.

Shaun Maloney’s side were victorious on the weekend with our 2-0 win at home to Bristol Rovers, taking us up to 16th with 33 points from 26 games.

Darren Ferguson’s side fell to a 5-1 hammering away at Lincoln City on Saturday afternoon as they remain on 27 points and drop to 19th.

The Latics won 3-0 in our previous meeting back on October 2nd and Maloney is looking to secure another double over the Posh.

Let's see what we can expect from this game! 👇

Peterborough United

Peterborough United are competing in their third consecutive League One campaign after being relegated from the Championship in the 2021/22 season.

The Posh achieved a place in the Play-Offs in each of their last two seasons, but now find themselves 19th in League One after 27 games. Let’s dive into how Darren Ferguson’s side have dropped so low in the table.

If you would like to learn more about the history of Peterborough United and how they prepared their squad for this season over the summer, you can read all about them in our previous preview below. 🗞️

Wigan Athletic vs Peterborough United | League One Preview

September 30, 2024

Part One | An overview of our opponents. 🔎

Read full story

When Wigan hosted Peterborough in October for our first meeting of the season, Ferguson’s side were 12th in the table with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses. They had scored 14, conceded 14, and were yet to keep a clean sheet.

Posh had conceded the second most in the division at that time but were tied with Wrexham and Wycombe Wanderers as second-highest scorers in League One. ⚽️

The feeling at the time, for me anyway, was that their season was going to go one of two ways. Either they sure up defensively and begin putting more points on the board or the goals start to dry up and they begin to fall down the table. Much to Ferguson’s dismay, the latter has become their reality.

Wigan were on a four-game unbeaten streak heading into the October meeting with Peterborough with a 4-0 victory over Bristol Rovers followed up by three 0-0 draws against Lincoln City, Stevenage, and Exeter City.

An excellent performance all around saw Dale Taylor secure a brace with assists from Luke Chambers and Matt Smith, Sam Tickle make some unbelievable saves, and Callum McManaman score a potential goal of the season ‘worldie’ from the far left side of the box. 💫

👕 Starting XI: Sam Tickle, Calvin Ramsay, Jason Kerr, Will Aimson, Luke Chambers, Baba Adeeko, Matt Smith, Michael Olakigbe, Thelo Aasgaard, Silko Thomas, Dale Taylor

🔄 Used Substitutes: James Carragher (Ramsay), Toby Sibbick (Taylor), Scott Smith (Smith), Jonny Smith (Olakigbe), Callum McManaman (Thomas)

Posh bounced back well with a 2-1 victory at home to Stevenage, but a 3-3 draw with Rotherham United and a 3-1 loss at Wycombe Wanderers showed how frail they were defensively.

That said, a resounding 5-1 win at home to Blackpool also showed how strong they could be in attack. A 1-0 loss away at Bolton was then followed up by a 6-1 win at home to Cambridge, proving once again that Peterborough are not a team for the betting slip. ‘Please Gamble Responsibly’ has never felt so apt.

Disaster then struck for Darren Ferguson and the Peterborough United supporters, not just because of a 2-1 loss at home to Reading, but because top-scorer and main man, Kwame Poku, picked up an injury just 20 minutes into the next game against Burton Albion which the side went on to lose 1-0.

Poku has 10 goals and 5 assists to his name so far this season but remains out of action for at least another month. 🤕

A 2-1 loss away at Northampton was followed up with a chaotic 4-3 victory at home to Crawley Town on December 15th, but that remains Ferguson’s last League One victory as goals have been hard to come by without their main attacking threat in Poku.

Over the Christmas period, a trio of losses came Peterborough’s way with a 2-1 defeat away at Stockport County, a 3-0 loss at home to Mansfield Town, and a 3-1 loss at home to Barnsley.

Burton Albion almost completed the double over Posh but for an Emmanuel Fernandez 77th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw, before Steven Fletcher’s 87th-minute winner for Wrexham did seal the Welsh side’s six points. 💢

Ferguson looked to be steadying the Posh’s decline with back-to-back draws against Leyton Orient and Exeter City, but a 5-1 hammering from Lincoln City most recently has cast the biggest shadow of the season over the East Anglian side.

“It was a horrendous day. Where do I start? So far away from one of my teams, it is unbelievable. Quite honestly, I am embarrassed because we have been absolutely battered.

If I am going to be really honest, I could really go for them [the players] and give them my honest opinion, but I have got to be careful I suppose, to a degree.

The fans are going to be critical of myself, of the players, and all the rest of it. I have to say, my record in terms of looking after this football club is as good as anyone at this level. So, I think it is on the players.

This is the softest group of players I have ever had as a manager, and I have nearly been managing for 20 years so that says it all.

I don’t know if they are really aware of the situation we are in, because we are in a relegation fight. If we play like that, we are in trouble.”

Darren Ferguson speaking to Posh+ post Lincoln City

📊 Peterborough United’s Last 5 League One Results
-
🤝 Burton Albion 2 - 2 Peterborough United
⚽️ Goals: A. Collins (42’), E. Fernandez (77’)
🅰️ Assists: C. Conn-Clarke (42’, 77’)
-
❌ Wrexham 1 - 0 Peterborough United
-
🤝 Peterborough United 0 - 0 Leyton Orient
-
🤝 Peterborough United 1 - 1 Exeter City
⚽️ Goal: H. Kyprianou (34’)
🅰️ Assist: M. Mothersille (34’)
-
❌ Lincoln City 5 - 1 Peterborough United
⚽️ Goal: Ricky-Jade Jones (60’)
🅰️ Assist: Gustav Lindgren (60’)

Peterborough United now sit 19th in the table after 27 games with 7 wins, 6 draws, and 14 losses. That is two more defeats than they managed all of last season.

They have scored 43 goals, which is tied with Birmingham City for second most in the division. However, they have conceded 52 which is not only just nine shy of last season’s total but is the most in the division by five.

That is 95 goals the Peterborough supporters have seen in 27 games, or 3.5 a game. Depending on how much you let football affect you, it is either great value for money or a major worry.

Over the winter transfer window, Posh have seen some changes to their squad personnel. 🔄

◽️ Full back, Sam Curtis, was recalled by Sheffield United.

◽️ Right back, Carl Johnston, was bought from Fleetwood Town.

◽️ Attacking midfielder, Joel Randall, completed a move to Bolton Wanderers.

◽️ Centre back, Samuel Hughes, was loaned in from Stockport County.

◽️ Winger, David Ajiboye, joined Newport County on loan.

◽️ Left back, Tayo Edun, was bought from Charlton Athletic.

◽️ Full back, Jack Sparkes, joined Chesterfield on loan.

**League One Standings** | Correct as of January 26th 2025

Buy me a Coffee ☕️

Darren Ferguson has not had much to be happy about this season. His squad have massively underperformed against expectations, and he will miss his top scorer, Kwame Poku (10 goals | 5 assists), for the next two months due to injury.

However, here are my three standouts so far this season 👇

Malik Mothersille

👕 Number 7 | Left Forward | Age: 21

✍️ Joined on September 2nd 2023 from Chelsea.

When we last met Peterborough, Mothersille had 3 goals and 1 assist to his name in eight appearances. At this stage, Mothersille has taken his tally to 7 goals and 5 assists from 27 appearances to put him as the second-highest goal contributor at the club behind Kwame Poku (10 goals and 5 assists).

The 21-year-old has played the third most amount of minutes under Ferguson this season (2022 minutes) and has hit the target with 24/31 shots while providing 21 key passes.

When the number 7 is on form, he is a nightmare to defend coming in from that left side of the attack. However, the youngster is finding it tough to consistently be a threat game in and game out, and his 40% ground duel win rate and 30% aerial win rate shows that he lacks the ability to truly bully defenders.

Maloney will need to ensure that he is selecting a defender for our right-back position who can not only keep up with Mothersille and make it difficult for him to receive the ball but somebody who can also usher him into making decisions earlier than he would like.

If you allow Mothersille time and space, he is at the level now where he can punish you quickly.

Ricky-Jade Jones

👕 Number 17 | Striker | Age: 22

✍️ Academy Graduate. Signed a professional contract in November 2019.

Tied on 7 goals for the season with Malik Mothersille is 22-year-old Academy graduate forward, Ricky-Jade Jones.

The youngster was highlighted in a recent football stat that named him the fastest player in Europe. According to a BBC Sport article, Jones’ personal best at 100m was 10.9 seconds, which is just 1.3 seconds behind Usain Bolt’s record from the 2009 World Championships.

Jones has also been a regular feature for Ferguson and comes into the game fourth for total minutes in a Posh shirt (1887). The forward has hit the target with 15 of his 25 shots, made 16 key passes, and provided 3 assists showing how much of an all-round threat he can be to defences.

If you cast your mind back to Will Aimson unleashing his inner Usain Bolt to keep up with Jones in our last meeting, our defenders will need to be prepared to sprint if the space opens up for a through ball to the forward.

We aren’t blessed with pace at the back, but another solid defensive display will be needed if we are to keep him quiet.

Emmanuel Fernandez

👕 Number 37 | Centre Back | Age: 23

✍️ Joined on July 10th 2021 from Ramsgate.

I was unsure whether to use the final player highlight spot for Emmanuel Fernandez or not. Cian Hayes came to mind, as did Chris Conn-Clarke.

However, despite making 23 starts and keeping 1 clean sheet in a defence that has conceded the most goals in the division, Fernandez is the third-highest scorer in the team with 5 goals to his name, mostly from set-piece routines.

Earlier in the season, I had high hopes for what Fernandez could achieve once he settles down and finds his feet as a regular starter at this level. His 61% duel win rate is not far off those of Jason Kerr (63%) and Will Aimson (67%), as are his numbers for clearances (152 to 156 & 146), blocked shots (18 to 22 & 22), interceptions (19 to 35 & 29), and tackles (29 to 35 & 56).

I do believe that with better players around him, Fernandez can blossom into a very capable defender at this level, but at the moment he looks to be crumbling under the constant pressure and overthinking far too much.

So, why have I included him here? Well, it really is for his threat in the opponent’s box for set plays. The Latics are not doing too well in terms of goalscoring, and if this game is a tight one then it might just take a set-piece goal from Peterborough to get a point or three from it.

If Fernandez sees an opportunity to score a winner in front of the home crowd to bounce back from recent poor performances, then he is going to throw himself at the ball and try to take that chance.

In other words, Maloney, stick a tall and physical player on him in the box at all times.

Central Wigan Football Blog

Wigan Athletic vs Peterborough United | League One Preview

Discussion about this post