Despite Peterborough's lowly status - eighteenth - this will be a difficult game.
Since losing out to Macaulay Gillesphey’s late headed winner at The Valley on February 11th, The Posh have run into some good form and are unbeaten in six League One games.
Winning at Cambridge 1-0 last weekend was perhaps expected and the 3-1 defeat of Shrewsbury was definitely facilitated by John Marquis's sending off after thirteen seconds. However, last time out at home they nearly beat Wycombe, only denied by a 93rd minute equaliser. The jewel in the crown of their recent form was undoubtedly a 1-0 at Huddersfield who, at that point, were fifth in the table. Add that to the draws they gained at Stevenage and Blackpool and you can see that they are a team that isn't easily rolled over.
In addition they came from 0-2 down at Wrexham to draw 2-2 and win on penalties in the EFL Cup semi-final to book their place at Wembley for the second year running.
How influential has the arrival of Tayo Edun been in this revival? Quite a lot, actually. He made the winner at Huddersfield with a cross for Hector Kyprianou and he scored the opener against Shrewsbury direct from a corner. Then last weekend he scored the winning goal at Cambridge but, fortunately for us perhaps, he got himself sent off for a second yellow in added-on time so will not be available on Saturday. Also unavailable will be Kyprianou who has been called up by Cyprus.
Nevertheless, Peterborough do have at their disposal some dangerous players. After a long lay-off their leading goal scorer Kwame Poku returned to the starting eleven at Cambridge. With ten goals from nineteen appearances this season, he is a typical Peterborough signing, having joined from Colchester after starting his career at Cray Wanderers.
Malik Mothersille joined at the start of last season after he failed to break through at Chelsea and he looked very lively when he came on as a sub at The Valley. Also likely to be in the starting line-up is Abraham Odoh who Charlton signed from Tooting & Mitcham in 2019. He made one appearance in a 0-1 FA Cup defeat to West Brom and then moved on to Rochdale and Harrogate before signing a three year contract at London Road last summer. Ricky Jade-Jones is another one to watch but don't blink or you'll miss him. In December 2024 TransferRoom announced that Jones recorded a maximum speed sprint time of 37.6km/h making him the fastest player in the world.
We have had some memorable games at London Road over the years. There was the 5-1 win in November 2010 when Johnnie Jackson and Lee Martin got a couple each. Who can forget the 4-1 League Cup game in 2015 when Ahmed Kashi scored from the half way line? However that was our last win in Peterborough as we have since lost four and drawn two. In fact our win at The Valley in January was the first time we have prevailed against them in twelve attempts
Wycombe's 3-2 win at Rotherham on Tuesday means that they and Wrexham are both five points ahead of us with nine games to go. A lot can happen in the final furlong as Lee Bowyer's team demonstrated in 2019 but, although a draw at Peterborough might not be a bad result, a win would seem essential if we are to keep alive the idea of reeling them both in.
Despite well over 2000 Charlton fans travelling to the game there were still tickets available at the time of publication:
https://booking.cafc.co.uk/en-GB/categories/Away%20Games