Portsmouth promotion rival sets stall out for League One run-in which impacts Blues, Bolton and Stevenage

Pompey rivals Peterborough are ready to get their promotion push back on course - and boss Darren Ferguson knows exactly how to do that.

The Posh manager is targeting a return to form at the Weston Homes Stadium as he aims to build momentum heading into the latter weeks of the season.

That spells danger for the Blues, who head to the London Road outfit on Saturday, March 16. Pompey will be accompanied by a season-high away attendance of 3,900 for that game. But, for Ferguson, a boisterous away end shouldn’t matter. He’s demanding his team get their form together on home soil, following recent defeats against Wigan and Blackpool. And that starts on Saturday with the visit of Exeter.

Ferguson told the Peterborough Telegraph: ‘We have to get back to what it was at home. We had a very good home record until we lost a couple of games in a row and with so many games to come to home we need to start winning again.

‘The players will be prepared for it. I always prepare my teams to be in the mix at the start of March and the idea then is make sure we have momentum going into April.

‘We are in the mix, but we can’t rely on others to slip up so we have to go out and try and win every game we have left to see where it takes us.’

Peterborough are currently fifth in the League One table - two points clear of Oxford United, who sit seventh and outside the play-off places. They are also seven points adrift of second-placed Derby and the automatic promotion places, with games in hand. 

Ferguson & Co were just a point behind leaders Pompey with a game less played when the Blues lost 3-0 at home to Leyton Orient on January 13, But since then, while John Mousinho’s side have gone on an unbeaten eigh-match run, collecting 20 points from a possible 24, Peterborough have lost four and drawn one of their past seven outings. They now sit 14 points off the top, albeit with two games in hand.

Posh still have 13 games left to play, eight of which are at home. As well as Pompey, fellow promotion-chasers Stevenage and Bolton are still to travel to London Road, with the latter due on the final day of the season.