The Sky Blues face Peterborough United at the Coventry Building Society Arena this evening in the Sky Bet Championship. Here’s everything you need to know about our opponents.
Fact File
Name: Peterborough United Football Club
Founded: 1934
Stadium: London Road (first opened 1913)
Capacity: 15,314
Nickname: The Posh
Address: London Road, Peterborough, PE2 8AL
Pitch Size: 112 x 76 yards
The Opposition
Peterborough United currently find themselves 21st in the table on their return to the Championship, after eight years in League One having been relegated with a record high points haul of 54 on the final day of 2012/13.
From late February Posh never found themselves outside the top two and clinched promotion after coming from 0-3 down to claim a point against Lincoln City at the start of May.
Having kept Peterborough up when they were last promoted to the Championship in 2011/12, Posh boss Darren Ferguson has brought back the likes of Jack Marriott from Derby County and Josh Knight from Leicester City as well as Jorge Grant to the club in the hope he can work his magic again this time around.
A 3-0 loss at Luton Town on the opening day brought them down to earth after promotion but a dramatic injury time turnaround against the Rams saw them earn their first points after Harrison Burrows equaliser was followed by Siriki Dembele 90+10th minute winner.
A run of four successive league defeats was ended with a comfortable win over Birmingham City last time out with former Sky Blue Jonson Clarke-Harris netting his second of the season from the spot to draw level with Dembele and Burrows in the Posh scoring charts.
Manager
Darren Ferguson enjoyed an almost two decade long playing career, winning the Premier League with Manchester United before spells at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sparta Rotterdam and Wrexham before arriving at Peterborough United in January 2007.
He led his side to a 10th placed finish in League Two with his first full season in charge seeing the Cambridgeshire club win promotion as runners up in 2007/08.
He repeated the trick the following season with his free scoring side finishing second in League One to see Posh back in the second tier for the first time since 1993/94 however a tough start to the season saw Ferguson depart in November 2009.
January 2010 saw Ferguson appointed as manager of Preston North End, ironically winning his first league match at Peterborough and ending the campaign in 17th.
The next season proved to be a challenging one for the Lancashire club with Ferguson dismissed just after Christmas with the Deepdale club having only five league wins to their name.
However he would not be out of the game for long with a return to Peterborough United confirmed in January 2011 with them outside the play off spots. Some big wins over the likes of Hartlepool United, Sheffield Wednesday, Oldham Athletic and Exeter City proved a spring board with Posh eventually finishing fourth, triumphing 4-3 over MK Dons in the play off semi final to meet Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford.
A 3-0 victory saw Ferguson take Posh back into the Championship, beginning with back to back home wins over Crystal Palace then a 7-1 thrashing of Ipswich Town as Ferguson learnt from his first Championship experience to guide Posh to safety.
Peterborough began the next season disastrously with seven successive defeats but form picked up from December onwards to see Posh take their survival fight to the final day but two late goals at Selhurst Park confirmed relegation with the highest points tally ever for a relegated side from the second tier.
Ferguson’s team would make the play offs the following season but he would depart with the club for a second time in February 2015, 15th in League One.
South Yorkshire was Ferguson’s next destination eight months and after overseeing Doncaster Rovers’ relegation to League Two in 2016 he brought them straight back up before resigning after a 15th placed finish back in League One.
The 49 year old was reappointed by Posh in January 2019 and after narrowly missing out on the League One play offs when the league was curtailed in 2020 Ferguson lead Peterborough into the Championship for a third time in May.
Over his three spells with Posh, Ferguson has managed 492 matches recording 222 wins, 98 draws and 172 defeats.
Last Six Games
Won – Peterborough United 3-0 Birmingham City (Sky Bet Championship)
Lost – Reading 3-1 Peterborough United (Sky Bet Championship)
Lost – Sheffield United 6-2 Peterborough United (Sky Bet Championship)
Lost – Peterborough United 0-1 West Bromwich Albion (Sky Bet Championship)
Lost – Preston North End 1-0 Peterborough United (Sky Bet Championship)
Drew – Peterborough United 2-2 Cardiff City (Sky Bet Championship)
Last Time We Met
The two sides last met in October 2019, sharing a 2-2 draw in League One at the Weston Homes Stadium.
The Sky Blues deserved took the lead when Max Biamou, starting for the first time since August 2018 after recovering from an ACL injury, set up Amadou Bakayoko in the twelfth minute.
The home side levelled through a Marcus Maddison penalty in the 52nd minute that had been won by Ivan Toney.
In an end to end match that saw both keepers pull off some stunning saves, City retook the lead with five minutes remaining when Biamou thought he had sealed a perfect return with a stunning scissor kick from Liam Kelly’s cross.
However the Sky Blues had to settle for a point when Siriki Dembele assisted Mo Eisa to equalise in injury time.
Head-to-Head Record
Sky Blues Wins – 14
Draws – 5
Peterborough United Wins – 5
Club Connections
Matty Godden
Striker Matty Godden joined the Sky Blues in August 2019 from Peterborough United after one season in Cambridgeshire that saw him feature 48 times.
Born in Canterbury, Godden began his career at Scunthorpe United after being offered a place on their apprenticeship programme before loan spells at non-league sides Brigg Town and Ilkeston Town.
Godden made his Irons debut in September 2010 coming on as a substitute against Manchester United in the League Cup before making his Championship debut at Burnley two months later.
He would leave the Lincolnshire side in 2014 after 21 appearances and eight separate loan spells, joining Ebbsfleet United who he had previously been on loan at twice in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
43 goals over two seasons back in Kent would attract the attentions of the EFL and after the club lost in the National League South play offs to Maidstone United he joined League Two Stevenage.
An impressive 21 goal haul in 2016/17 was followed up by 14 strikes the next season at Broadhall Way earned Godden a move to Posh, scoring on his debut against Bristol Rovers in August 2018.
Eight goals in his first ten matches, including doubles at Plymouth and Southend continued a bright start to his career at Peterborough with his final goal for them being a last minute equaliser at home to Sunderland in April 2019.
His eighteen goal haul alerted the attention of City boss Mark Robins who brought the forward to the Sky Blues that summer where he netted 15 goals as Coventry won promotion to the Championship in his first season, earning himself a place in the League One Team of the Year.
Playing in the second tier for the first time since his Scunthorpe days Godden acclaimed to the division well with three goals in his first five matches before netting in vital wins at the end of the season, against Bristol City and Barnsley, to help City survive back in the Championship.
Godden netted his 22nd goal for the Sky Blues last month with an injury time winner against Reading and will be hoping to score against his former club having made his first start of the season against Millwall last weekend.
Match Officials
Geoff Eltringham will be the man in the middle this evening, taking charge of his eighth Championship game of the 2021/22 season.
He has overseen five previous Sky Blues matches, with his most recent being the 1-1 draw with Birmingham City in January 2021.
So far, Eltringham has awarded 33 yellow cards and one red card across his seven matches in the Sky Bet Championship this season.
He will be assisted by Robert Merchant and Matthew Jones with Matthew Donohue acting as fourth official.