Portsmouth v Peterborough: what's been said, team news, predicted XIs, referee, key stats and form guides

What’s been said:

Danny Cowley (Pompey)

We’re learning all the time.

We know we’re a work in progress and there’s a lot more to come from this group, individually and collectively.

We look at the games coming up as an exciting opportunity.

There are some real tough games against top teams, which we like because it gives us instant feedback

Ultimately, though, life is for living. We’re not getting too caught up getting ahead of ourselves - we just want to be better than yesterday.

Grant McCann (Peterborough)

We were preparing the team for the Portsmouth game and we knew who we wanted to bring in.

We’d been working on bring in Kelland (Watts) for a few days now, and on the outs it’s good to see Idris Kanu has gone to a good club (Barnet), Ryan Broom has gone to Cheltenham and we were waiting to see if anything happened last minute. We’re pleased with how it panned out.

Portsmouth have recruited really well - Colby Bishop and Dane Scarlett - with lively strikers.

Then he’s recruited well around it with players like Marlon Pack and their experience.

Anytime you go to the big clubs it’s managing the games and trying to quieten the crowd. It’s going to be a good game.

Peterborough team news:

Peterborough will add Kelland Watts to their group, after bringing in the defender on loan from Newcastle on deadline day.

But Idris Kanu, Ryan Broom and Harmeed Ishola have all departed London Road on the final day of business.

The big news for Peterborough was retaining the services of teenager Ronnie Edwards, who was the subject of strong interest from Crystal Palace.

Joel Randall will be pushing for inclusion after he started in the EFL Trophy loss to Stevenage following a shoulder injury.

Former Pompey man Dan Butler, Ollie Norburn and Emmanuel Fernandez are all also sidelined. Ex-Pompey defender Nathan Thompson is suspended after picking up a red card at Derby.

Predicted XI: Bergstrom; Knight, Edwards, Kent; Ward, Taylor, Fuchs, Thompson, Burrows; Clarke-Harris, Marriott.

Pompey team news:

Danny Cowley will add Josh Koroma to his group, after bringing in the attacker on loan from Huddersfield for the season late on deadline day.

Haji Mnoga has left to further his education with season-long loan spell at Gillingham in League Two, however.

Denver Hume will aiming for a place in the squad, after making his return after nearly six months out with calf and back problems against Crawley.

Joe Morrell also got his first minutes of the season under his belt after a hernia operation.

The status of Michael Morrison and concussion protocols will decide his involvement after he came off against Port Vale with a head injury.

Predicted XI: Josh Griffiths; Joe Rafferty, Michael Morrison, Sean Raggett, Connor Ogilvie; Owen Dale, Marlon Pack, Tom Lowery, Ronan Curtis, Colby Bishop, Dane Scarlett.

Matchday odds (Bet365)

Peterborough 11/5

1-0 10/1, 2-0 16/1, 2-1 11/1, 3-0 33/1, 3-1 22/1, 3-2 28/1

Pompey: 23/20

1-0 15/2, 2-0 10/1, 2-1 8/1, 3-0 20/1, 3-1 16/1, 3-2 22/1

Draw: 5/2

0-0 11/1, 1-1 11/2, 2-2 12/1, 3-3 40/1

Officials

Referee: Samuel Barrott

Assistants: Andy Bennett and Thomas Harty.

Fourth official: Charles Breakspear

Key Stats (all competitions)

Peterborough

Record this season: P 9 W 5 D 0 L 4

League Position: fourth

Top goalscorer: Jonson Clarke-Harris (five)

Most Assists: Joe Ward (four)

Discipline: 12 yellow cards, one red card

Pompey

Record this season: P 9 W 5 D 3 L 1

League Position: First

Top goalscorer: Colby Bishop (five)

Most Assists: Michael Jacobs/Marlon Pack (two)

Discipline: 11 yellows cards, 0 red cards

Form guide

Peterborough

L 2-1 Stevenage (H) – EFL Trophy

L 2-1 Derby (A) - League One

L 1-0 Stevenage (A) - Carabao Cup

W 4-0 Lincoln (H) - League One

W 2-0 Sheff Wed (H) - League One

L 2-0 Plymouth (A) - League One

Pompey

D 1-1 Stevenage (A) - EFL Trophy

W 1-0 Port Vale (H) - League One

L 3-3 Newport (A) - Carabao Cup

W 3-1 Bristol Rovers (H) - League One

W 4-1 Cambridge (H) - League One

W 2-0 Cheltenham (A) - League One

Other fixtures (3pm kick-off unless stated)

Accrington Stanley v Ipswich Town, Bolton Wanderers v Charlton Athletic, Bristol Rovers v Morecambe, Cambridge United v Lincoln City, Derby County v Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City v Milton Keynes Dons, Fleetwood Town v Wycombe Wanderers, Forest Green Rovers v Shrewsbury Town, Oxford United v Burton Albion, Port Vale v Cheltenham Town, Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley.