With only seven games remaining, the Cumbrians are 15 points from safety and, barring a complete miracle, will be playing in League Two the next season. However, after Carlisle’s excellent performance to draw 2-2 with play-off contenders Stevenage last Saturday, the game might be a banana skin for Peterborough.
However, Darren Ferguson’s team still has a shot of automatic promotion and has everything to play for. Presently, Posh are seven points behind Derby County in second place, in fourth place. Notably, they still have two games left against the Rams, and if they can capitalise on them, they may have a shot at earning automatic promotion to the championship.
Although they aren’t guaranteed to make the playoffs this year, it seems improbable that they will fall outside of the top six. Ferguson will, however, be telling his players this week that the present is what matters, especially before their EFL Trophy Final against Wycombe Wanderers next weekend, which may already be in their mind
The rewards would be divided in the rematch on Friday versus the rival team in October. For much of the game, Posh controlled the play, and Carlisle’s lone effort on goal, an extra-time Jordan Gibson goal, ended up in the net.
Although Peterborough had a formidable offensive that day, it might not have been fully effective in punishing their opponents. Even so, the Cumbrians’ manager continued to have nothing but praise for the match.
Before Friday’s game, in an interview with the News & Star, Simpson would continue.
“My hope is that we can go into the game on Saturday and play as well as we did for the majority of the Stevenage game.”
“I must admit that for the first twenty or thirty minutes of this game, Peterborough was by far the finest team we have played against, given how quickly they were able to move the ball. They were an incredible side. We needed halftime to reorganise and reorganise. After that, we were able to draw the game.
“We just need to make sure we’re prepared for the tough game that we know we’re going to play at Peterborough.”
Posh’s offensive weapons should be on display, as Carlisle has the poorest defence in the division and Peterborough has the statistically best attack in the division. They’ll want to use the game this time bed a lot earlier.
When Peterborough plays at its best, this should be a very easy victory, but as we all know, football is very unpredictable. They undoubtedly possess the tools to punish their rivals; everything just needs to come together perfectly.
Though there’s no assurance that Carlisle’s improved performance against Stevenage will be maintained, they should be cautious going forward, as this is true for most of the season.
Posh, however, must continue to treat this game seriously if they are to stay in the running for automatic promotion. Complacency cannot set in for Posh.
