Fleetwood will want to bounce back from Swindon defeat against promotion hopefuls Peterborough

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Simon Grayson’s Fleetwood suffered a shock defeat to Swindon last week but a fixture break has allowed them recovery time to go again against Peterborough

Grayson was recently given a permanent contract with the Fylde Coast club following an impressive start to his time after Joey Barton’s dismissal.

Despite key figures Ched Evans and Paddy Madden leaving in recent times, they have managed to kick on with Kyle Vassell and Ged Garner leading the line to positive effect.

Although their last outing was a shock defeat to relegation-threatened Swindon with Scott Twine scoring twice to ease past the Cods at Highbury, they will want to see a reaction but their Friday opponents are a much tougher test.

Peterborough were evidently frustrated by their midweek defeat to Blackpool at Bloomfield Road as they demolished Accrington 7-0 at the Weston Homes Stadium.

A Jonson Clarke-Harris hattrick set Darren Ferguson’s side on their way in that one and he has been instrumental to Posh’s promotion hopes, keeping pace with 25 goals this campaign and filling the boots of Ivan Toney from the season prior.

Sammie Szmodics is another who poses a threat with 12 goals this season and five assists, offering another outlet alongside Siriki Dembele who has 10 assists this campaign.

For the hosts they have a solid spine to the team that has served them well despite a relatively adverse season.

Callum Connolly is a concrete central defender who, despite his young age, has become a leader in the side in an organisational fashion, as well as showing attributes both on and off the ball that will no doubt see higher league interest in the near future.

Into midfield and Dan Batty has made a major impression since his deadline day arrival from Hull.

Batty was a Grayson signing and has shown his box-to-box presence to drive Fleetwood forward in attacking phases, whilst showing intelligence off the ball to intercept in the midfield to prevent counter attacks.

Alongside him, Callum Camps is someone who has been a big name in and around League One and League Two for a number of years now. He has again had a fine campaign for the Cods with nine goals, helping keep his team afloat when they were in danger of slipping away.

Up top they now look to Kyle Vassell to provide the spark after the loss of their two main attacking outlets.

Vassell, who was a big hit during his time with Fylde Coast neighbours Blackpool, has only managed three goals in 16 appearances, but his all-round play has began to shine through.

His hold up play, bringing others into the final third as well as his strength to disrupt opposition backlines has made him an unselfish forward who brings a lot to the team even if he is not the most prolific forward.

Looking ahead to the game and, despite languishing in 15th, Fleetwood have two games in hand on Gillingham who sit in the playoffs and wins in both of those would see them two points off the Gills.

With that in mind, Fleetwood will hold an outside optimism of a promotion push but they have to win the vast majority of games left and with Peterborough next up, they will need a big performance to defeat Ferguson’s side.

For Posh, they showed their recovery strengths with that 7-0 win against Stanley and they will hope that is a sign of things to come as they try to build some momentum for the run-in.

Peterborough have to be favourites for this one but there is no doubt that Fleetwood will not simply roll over.

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