Pre-Match Thoughts - Southend United

As many of my regular readers will know by now, I usually do a post before and after each match. But if I'm honest, I had absolutely nothing to say about the shambles that took place at Walsall last week. It was a joke, an embarrassment, and simply not good enough from everyone involved in the incidents in the dying moments of the match.

So moving swiftly on, we host Southend United at the ABAX tonight, in a game which really could make or break our season. Southend are just ahead of us, and in my mind this game really is win or bust.

Posh

Following Saturday's events, Posh will be missing captain (and I use the term in its loosest possible form) Chris Forrester after his stupid red card, as well as Anthony Grant, who picked up his 10th yellow of the season at Walsall. Gwion Edwards was stretchered off on Saturday and will miss tonights fixture, whilst Grant McCann refused to rule out Michael Bostwick, who has been making good progress in his recovery from a broken jaw.

Dominic Ball is capable of playing at the base of the diamond, which could see a return to the line up for Jack Baldwin. Brad Inman could also play as Posh are short on numbers in midfield. Paul Taylor was below par on Saturday, so I'm expecting him to be back amongst the subs. Martin Samuelsen could start, and I'd fully expect Marcus Maddison to return to the line up tonight.

Jerome Binnom-Williams missed out on Saturday, and providing he's fit, I'd expect him to return to the squad, although Andrew Hughes didn't really do too much wrong on Saturday in my book.

I think we're going to see a mix up in the starting XI tonight, and really it's difficult to guess who will play. In all honesty, any one of Saturday's team could be dropped, and I imagine some of them will be.

My predicted line up (click image to enlarge):

Subs: Tyler, Binnom-Williams, Da Silva Lopes, Bostwick, Taylor, Morias, Nichols

Southend United

Southend have enjoyed a good season up to now, and currently sit in 6th - three points clear of Posh. They were pegged back twice on Saturday by Northampton Town, and ended up only taking a point from the game, but have beaten Oxford United and Scunthorpe in recent weeks. 

Their main goal threat is Simon Cox. He's made the step down to League One, and seems to have found his level as he's flourished under Phil Brown this term. Cox's strike partner is likely to be Marc-Antoine Fortune - the veteran striker is also capable of taking his chances, so the Posh defence will have to be alert to keep them quiet tonight. 

Southend may be missing central midfielder Michael Timlin, and centre back Anton Ferdinand - whose partners are both expecting to give birth in the coming days. They both may feature in the match, but it'd certainly help Posh if they were missing and Southend were forced to make changes to their preferred line up. 

Prediction: Posh 1-2 Southend - I can't justify predicting a Posh win after Saturday's farce. Southend have been going very well in the league this season and Posh's weakened midfield might pay dividends in tonight's game. Southend actually have players capable of scoring on a regular basis and I just can't see Posh coming out of it with anything more than a point. Hopefully they prove me wrong! 

Pre-Match Thoughts - Walsall

Grant McCann takes his Posh side to Walsall on Saturday, in search of a second consecutive win in League One

Walsall

Walsall, like Posh, have been fairly inconsistent this season. However, they do sit just four points behind us, as we lock horns with them on Saturday afternoon. Last time out, they went to high flyers Scunthorpe and held them to a 0-0 draw. Like Posh, they're largely an unknown quantity from week to week. 

They do have a new talisman in the shape of former Posh midfielder, Erhun Oztumer. The general consensus among Posh fans is that Oztumer was a very talented player on his day, but those days just didn't come regularly enough. But he seems to hit a run of form this season, and has been an important aspect of the Saddlers team. 

Walsall will be missing another former Posh player: Florent Cuvellier will miss the game with a calf strain, as Walsall are yet to find out the severity of the problem. He limped off against Scunthorpe on Tuesday night and is expected to miss a few weeks. 

Walsall teams in recent years have been really difficult opposition, mainly due to a number of players they'd acquired. But the likes of Tom Bradshaw, Romaine Sawyers have both moved on to Championship clubs. Rico Henry also left the club in the summer to team up with former Saddlers boss Dean Smith, at Brentford. 

Posh

Posh finally scored their first goals at the ABAX Stadium in 2017 on Tuesday, and will be looking to pick up where they left off in the second half of Tuesdays win over Shrewsbury. It may have been the centre backs that scored the goals, but at least we scored then. But Saturday does need to see the attacking players pick up their form and start finding the goal themselves. 

I dont think there will be too many changes from the team that started on Tuesday. However Paul Taylor must be in with a shout of starting after his performance against the Shrews. Marcus Maddison was withdrawn at half time, and there's a chance he may have to settle for a place on the bench on Saturday, 

Gwion Edwards has reportedly been struggling with an injury, but if he's fit I fully expect him to keep his place in the starting XI. If he doesn't make it, Maddison, Leo Da Silva Lopes, Brad Inman and Martin Samuelsen will all be vying for his place in the line up. 

Craig Mackail-Smith may also come back into the reckoning after being left on the bench on Tuesday, but I'm going to predict that Junior Morias and Lee Angol will keep their places in the starting XI. 

My predicted line up (click image to enlarge): 

Subs: Tyler, Baldwin, Maddison, Da Silva Lopes, Samuelsen, CMS, Nichols

Prediction: Walsall 1-2 Posh - I think Posh will return to goalscoring form on Saturday with another two goals. I think Walsall will get one, maybe through Oztumer, who has said he will celebrate if he scores against us on Saturday. Ultimately, I'm predicting a Posh win, and a chance to move into the playoffs, with Milwall being involved in the FA Cup this weekend. 

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