Greason previews the U's home FA Cup tie against Peterborough United.

Colchester United take a well-deserved break from the struggles of The Championship as they commence their journey which, hopefully, will end at Wembley. Peterborough United are the visitors to Layer Road in the Third Round and the U's will be hoping that they do better than last season when Barnet knocked them out at the first time of asking.

I'm sure both sides were initially disappointed about being put together by the balls at Soho Square, but in quite reflection, fans of either side might just have changed their minds. For the U's, a lower league club shouldn't really hold any real worries and a safe passage to Round Four should be achieved. Posh fans on the other hand, will see the U's precarious position at the foot of the table, plus their decent record so far and have some optimism that it will be the Posh in the hat for the next round. Peterborough are currently fifth place in the League Two table and have real aspirations of gaining promotion this season backed as they are by millionaire Darragh MacAnthony who took over from Barry Fry. They now also seem happy with the current manager Darren Ferguson after short spells with Mark Wright, Steve Bleasdale, and Keith Alexander.

In total they have won thirteen of their twenty-four league games so far this season (five on the road) and suffered just seven defeats leaving them eleven points behind current leaders MK Dons. At home, they are the leading goal scorers in the division - helped by hitting seven against Brentford earlier in the season.

However, they are going through a bit of a rough patch with three defeats in their last five games starting with a home defeat at the hands of Paul Ince's MK Dons in front of over ten thousand at London Road. A late Jeff Hughes goal helped them see off Bradford just before Christmas but a Michael Boulding brace saw Mansfield defeat them on Boxing Day whilst Morecambe came back from two down, and a man sent off just after half time to win by the odd goal in five. On New Years Day it was the turn of Posh to come from behind as they beat Shrewsbury 2-1 with goals from Charlie Lee and Craig Morgan.

It is in the Cup competitions that Posh have excelled though. They beat Southampton at London Road by two goals to one at the start of the season before going out of the competition at the hands of West Brom.

The first round of the FA Cup saw Wrexham make the long trip to Cambridgeshire only for Craig Mackail-Smith to blast a hat-trick in a 4-1 win to the home side. Mackail-Smith signed from Dagenham & Redbridge then scored four in the 5-0 away win at Staines which earned them a place in the Third Round and to make him, by some way, the leading goal scorer in the competition. He now has thirteen goals for the season; however, he hasn't scored since the 8th December. Team-mate Aaron McLean - who once had a trial with the U's - has now scored nineteen goals in all competitions this season following his £150,000 move from Grays Athletic.

United and Posh have met on five previous occasions in the FA Cup and the U's have yet to record success in any of those encounters. They did draw twice - back in 1961 - before Posh finished them off 3-0 in a game played at neutral venue Carrow Road.

However, it is the U's with the best recent record of the two sides with the U's unbeaten in the last six meetings. Our last three trips to London Road have all ended up with three points in the bag, the most recent being in March 2005 when Marc Goodfellow, Neil Danns and Marino Keith's penalty gave us the win. That same season the U's won 2-1 at Layer Road thanks to Wayne Andrews' penalty and an own goal from Craig Ireland after David Farrell had put The Posh ahead after ten minutes.

Almost 41 years ago to the very day, the two sides met at Layer Road in the FA Cup in front of over 9,000. It wasn't a good day for the U's as they lost 3-0. The U's team was Sandy Kennon, Dennis Mochan, Brian Hall, Mick Loughton, Duncan Forbes, Derek Trevis, Arthur Kaye, Peter Bullock, Ken Hodgson, Reg Stratton, and John Martin with David Raine the substitute.

Peterborough are on the verge of bringing in a new goalkeeper - believed to be Norwich City shot-stopper Joe Lewis - for £400,000. Ferguson has already spent £150,000 on Liam Hatch from Barnet as well as bringing in defender Scott Mitchell from Livingston. It’s been rumoured that Posh's other keeper, Shwan Jalal is among the six players that Geraint Williams is interested in during the transfer window.

Graeson's Team

It’s difficult to know quite how Williams will play this game. The League is ultimately the priority but a good Cup run will benefit the club's well-being and bank balance. Given that the U's have just picked up a good win at Charlton as well, I think it would be silly to put out a weakened side and would rather start building up win after win to get the players used to that feeling again!

Therefore, I'd be looking to pick the same starting eleven as on New Years Day with perhaps one tactical change in the hopes that some continuity of performance. So that would mean Dean Gerken in goal with John White and George Elokobi as the fullbacks. Adam Virgo, who was superb at The Valley, will look to show the U's faithful just how good he could be alongside Pat Baldwin at the heart of the U's defence.

In midfield, I'd recall Kem Izzet to the central midfield area to partner Luke Guttridge with Johnnie Jackson switching to the left of midfield in place of Kevin McLeod. On the right, Mark Yeates will be sent out with the instruction to get the ball in to the box as quickly as possible so that Kevin Lisbie and Clive Platt can attack the ball rather than receiving it with their back to goal.

Graeson's Prediction

It might not be pretty, and the U's might ride their luck on occasions but I fancy the U's to make it through to the Fourth Round with a 2-0 win with goals from Platt and Jackson.

Photo: Action Images

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