Blackburn v Posh Preview!

It promises to be a late night tomorrow for the Posh faithful.

A trip to darkest, farthest Lancashire beckons for a Carling Cup clash with a far from user friendly kick-off of 20:00 hours. If the match goes to extra time and penalties it might be wise, for some, to drive straight to work after the conclusion of events.

However, in all honesty, we couldn`t ask for a better time to play Blackburn. Posh are on a mini-high after the 3-0 drubbing of Scunthorpe at the weekend whilst Rovers gave a performance that Sam Allardyce described as pathetic in his sides 5-0 rout at Chelsea.

It`ll be interesting to see how the managers perceive the importance of the tie.

Sam Allardyce has a squad that has lost several players to swine flu although we hear David Dunn is back in training. He`ll also be in a quandary as to whether to go with a strong side and seek a won to boost their flagging confidence or whether to save some players for a daunting away trip to Old Trafford on Saturday evening.

Darren Ferguson, on the other hand, will need to judge whether a decent cup run (remember the next round is the quarter-finals) is a little more important than the forthcoming Championship fixture with Barnsley, at London Road, this Saturday?

Having described George Boyd as tired, could this be the day his record breaking run of appearances ends? Personally, I hope not!

If I had my way I`d field the best side available, go for broke and possibly give the Posh support an extended cup run that could see confidence soar and also benefit our Championship form.

So who are the Blackburn danger men?

It`s likely that after missing the trip to Stamford Bridge, the on loan Chelsea striker, Franco Di Santo, will return. He may only have scored once this season but his reputation is growing game by game.

Elsewhere, David Dunn, if he plays could control the game from the centre of the park and Rovers possess a fine keeper in Paul Robinson. But, like we`ve said it depends on who Sam Allardyce selects.

As for predicting a result, I`ll reserve judgment, I`ll not jinx the lads but something tells me this is going to be a lot closer than the pundits thought when the two sides were drawn together.

It could even be that late night I`ve already mentioned!

Good luck to the lads from all at Vital Posh!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.