Quiet optimism amid away day blues: The lowdown on Blackpool's next opponents Peterborough United ahead of crunch showdown

The Seasiders head into the game on the back of a seven-game run without a win, having only scored twice during that spell.

Their latest setback, the dire 1-0 defeat to Derby County, leaves Neil Critchley’s side in 17th, eight points adrift of Posh in the bottom three.

Darren Ferguson’s side got back to winning ways last weekend with a vital 2-1 victory against Millwall, having previously endured a seven-game run without a win of their own.

Posh have the worst away record in the league though, losing 10 of the 11 games on their travels and conceding 30 times in the process.

Ahead of Saturday’s encounter, The Gazette caught up with live reporter Ben Jones from our sister paper the Peterborough Telegraph.

Here’s what he had to say:

- In short, what's been the story of Peterborough's season so far?

Good home performances, terrible away ones - 16 of the 19 points have come at home and Posh have rarely looked like picking up a point on the road with a series of woeful performances.

The only win came at Hull and even then, that was a pretty poor performance and Posh could have gone behind late in the second-half but they missed a penalty.

Home form is the hope but it puts a lot of pressure on each home game being so poor away.

Although we do look like we belong at the level at home, which is why the away form is so infuriating.

Posh need to find a way to create more chances, they only ended a five-game goalless run with an own goal last time out. During the last few games, there have seen spells of having a lot of the ball but never looking dangerous with it.

- What's the general feeling among the fans? Is there a belief Posh can stay up?

I think it's mixed but there's a general consensus that January is massive.

The feeling is that Posh did not strengthen adequately in the summer and that several positions need strengthening if Posh are going to get over the line and stay up.

Funny what a win does because if Posh had not beaten Millwall, that would have been four without a win at home and I'd have probably said the mood was pretty low. There is optimism considering Blackpool and Reading are the next two.

- Has Darren Ferguson changed the style from last season? Or is it a similar approach?

Posh started the season playing the same back three as last season but in the last two games, Darren Ferguson has switched to the diamond and it has been a success so far.

It brought about a much better away performance at Forest and it led to one of the best performances of the season last time out at home to Millwall.

In terms of the style, it's still trying to play out from the back but it's just been a lot harder and they've been caught out a lot more the level up.

- Which players should Blackpool fans look out for?

Ronnie Edwards, the centre-back, is the best player on the ball in the team without question. He will take chances on the ball, he’ll never look to pass back to the keeper and will try and start attacks from the back.

Siriki Dembele is the true Championship quality player because he can switch it on in a moment and I just wish he'd be a bit more selfish and shoot more often, he's the best in the team at it.

- Which players are injured/unavailable?

Dan Butler looks like he picked up quite a serious injury last time out.

Joe Tomlinson will presumably start. If he does, it will only be his second league start, having signed from Eastleigh in the summer.

Jack Marriott is not ready to play yet, nor Ricky-Jade Jones.

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