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The Posh won promotion back to League One last season after a brilliant year under manager Darren Ferguson, son of Sir Alex, and with their goalscoring prowess, we could be in for an exciting Saturday afternoon at London Road this weekend.
Formed: 1934
Ground:
Manager: Darren Ferguson
Nickname: The Posh
Season Finish 2006/07: 2nd (Coca-Cola League Two)
Previous Meetings:
That season, Tranmere hammered The Post 5-0 at Prenton Park whilst on the opening day of the season Tranmere were beaten 1-0 at London Road by Peterborough.
In that same season, Rovers were also knocked out of the F.A. Cup by the Posh, losing 2-1 with Ryan Taylor scoring Tranmere's goal.
The most recent meeting between the two clubs though came in the F.A. Cup at the second round stage during Ronnie Moore's first season in charge of Tranmere.
Rovers, a league above their opponents, were however dissapointing on the day, slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Prenton Park.
Indeed, Tranmere took the lead in this game, and it was deserved, with Shane Sherriff heading home a Chris Shuker corner.
It all went down hill from here though for Tranmere, with Danny Crow netting in the third minute of first half stoppage time before Crow got his second of the match midway through the second half, stabbing home from close range after Tranmere failed to clear a long throw.
Vital Stats:
In 23 trips to Peterborough, Tranmere have come away with just four wins, having lost on twelve occasions
In their last five trips to London Road, Tranmere have scored just once
Rovers' last away win against Peterborough came over 22 years ago on March 5th 1986
Tranmere have never managed to score more than two goals in a match at London Road
These two sides have met five previous times in September, with Tranmere picking up two wins, two defeats and a draw
On This Day:
2003: Rovers draw 2-2 at home to Notts County, with Simon Haworth scoring both goals for Tranmere at Meadow Lane
1997: John Aldridge's Tranmere hammer Reading 6-0 at Prenton Park. The Tranmere scorers on that day were Johnny Morrisey, David Kelly (x2), Lee Jones, Gary Jones and Andy Thompson.
1994: Rovers beat Brentford 1-0 in the League Cup to qualify for the next round of the competition
Tranmere Rovers have played fourteen previous fixtures on September 20th, picking up eight wins, four draws and just two defeats. They have impressively scored thirty goals and conceded seventeen.
The Form Book:
Peterborough last six games: DWLLWL
Tranmere last six games: WLWWLW
Darren Ferguson's Peterborough United have had a mixed start to the season, having picked up just two wins from their opening six league games.
Indeed, despite a brilliant, free-scoring strike force, The Posh have simply been unable to win too many games because of their shakey defence, something which has already cost them points this season.
The Posh started the season on the road at Roots Hall against Southend United and were unlucky to lose 1-0, courtesy of a 76th minute strike from former Everton defender Clarke, before Peterborough were then knocked out of the League Cup, like Tranmere, at the first round stage, losing 2-1 away to Bristol City.
Peterborough then picked up their first win of the season at home to Leyton Orient, with The Posh hammering The O's 3-0 thanks to goals from MacKail-Smith (x2) and McLean before they lost 1-0 at Scunthorpe United courtesy of a Hayes penalty just before half-time.
Hartlepool United then beat Peterborough 2-1 at London Road, before in a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting match on Sky Television, Peterborough just managed to hold off Bristol Rovers, beating the Pirates 5-4 at London Road.
In their most recenty match, Darren Ferguson's side picked up a 1-1 draw away to Northampton Town, with George Boyd scoring his third of the season for Peterborough, although he is yet to score in a win!
So far this season, Peterborough have played a game less than Tranmere as they recieved a bye in the first round of the Football League trophy.
They have picked up seven points from their opening six league games and thanks to two wins in three matches, they have picked up six points from an available nine at home.
Tranmere's form coming into this game isn't as bad as you may think, with the Super Whites having won four of their last six games. However, one has to remember that of those six games, only two have actually been away from Prenton Park, with Rovers playing three home games in a week right at the end of August and start of this month.
Rovers started the season with two successive away defeats, firstly putting in a drab display and losing 3-1 away to Swindon Town on the opening day of the season, before Rovers somehow lost 2-0 against Grimsby Town in the first round of the League Cup, despite being by far the better side on the night.
Rovers though then started their run of four wins in six matches, as they firstly beat Hartlepool United 1-0 courtesy of a stunning Craig Curran strike, before it was back to normality on the road a week later as Ronnie Moore's side were unlucky to lose 3-1 at Leicester City.
Indeed, in both the Grimsby Town and Leicester City matches, Tranmere have lost by two clear goals, but had they taken their chances and made their pressure count, as they should have, the results would have been very different.
In the first of three consecutive home games, Tranmere then came from behind to hammer Northampton Town 4-1, with goals coming from Savage, Kay, Curran and Moore, before Edrissa Sonko scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley in the Football League Trophy.
Rovers were then bitterly unlucky to lose 1-0 against Oldham Athletic, with Steven Jennings wrongly having a goal ruled out as he was apparently offside, before Tranmere travelled to Huddersfield a week later and picked up their first away win of the campaign. They were forced to come from behind to get their points though, with Sonko and Shotton scoring after Dickinson had handed Huddersfield the lead.
Rovers come into this game having picked up nine points from their opening six league games, and having won one of their opening three league matches away from home.
Double Hit:
Colin Clarke is a former Northern Ireland international striker who represented both Tranmere Rovers and Peterborough United in his career.
Starting his career with Ipswich Town, Clarke failed to make an appearance for the club before moving on to Peterborough in 1981. He stayed with the Posh for three years, making 82 appearances and scoring eighteen times, as well as spending time on loan with Gillingham, before joining Tranmere in 1984.
Lasting just a year with the Rovers, Clarke managed an impressive 22 goals in 45 games, and it was to Tranmere's regret that he didn't stay for longer as he joined Bournemouth in 1985.
Again, Clarke was only with the club for a year, as after moving up from Division Four to Division Three, he netted 26 goals in 46 games and was quickly snapped up by Division One side Southampton.
A three year stay with the Saints saw him net 36 goals in 82 games before he re-joined Bournemouth and then laterly QPR and Portsmouth before retiring in 1993.
A terrific goalscorer, Clarke also scored 13 goals in 38 games for Northern Ireland before he retired from playing to take up coaching in the game he loves.
Indeed, Clarke is still in the game as a coach, and having managed the likes of FC Dallas in the MLS, he now coaches the Puerto Rico national team, as well as Puerto Rican league side the Puerto Rico Islanders.
One To Watch: Craig MacKail-Smith
With free-scoring striker Aaron McLean out injured with a dislocated elbow, his partner in crime, Craig MacKail-Smith, will be the one to keep an eye on this Saturday.
Started his career with non-league Dagenham and Redbridge, now of course a Football League side, striker MacKail-Smith made himself a great reputation for his ability to score goals.
With 38 goals in 108 games for Dagenham, it wasn't going to be long before he was picked up by a Football League club, and indeed in January 2007, MacKail-Smith made the step up to League Two as he joined Peterborough for an undisclosed fee.
Since, the striker has become a revelation with the Posh, forging a quite stunning partnership with fellow striker Aaron McLean. Indeed, between them, McLean and MacKail-Smith scored 52 goals in all competitions last season, MacKail-Smith getting nineteen of them.
Wearing the number twelve shirt, MacKail-Smith has played 66 games for Peterborough so far, scoring 32 goals in the process, including five goals in seven games this season.
Now aged 24, the striker may have come into League football at a late age, but he has already built himself a great goalscoring reputation and it has been rumoured that teams from higher leagues have been watching this exciting, quick striker.
Around League One:
As ever, there are some exciting fixtures in League One this weekend, with many teams looking to either continue their early season momentum or find some sort of form before it's too late to start a promotion push.
The most interesting fixture of the weekend is at Brunton Park, where Carlisle United, whom Tranmere visit in two weeks, take on Leeds United. It's a second vs. fourth placed battle, and with Carlisle lying just two points ahead of Leeds after defeat at Scunthorpe last weekend, there is a chance for Leeds to move into the automatic promotion spots for the first time this season.
Table topping Oldham have a tough trip to Hartlepool to look forward to, with Hartlepool looking to build on their 4-1 victory over Cheltenham last time out, whilst Scunthorpe, third, travel to Hereford, who are now bottom of the table.
Millwall have moved up to fifth in the League One table and they host Cheltenham Town, who are off the bottom of the table after a midweek win over Bristol Rovers, whilst sixth placed Leicester City are away to mid-table Leyton Orient.
At the other end of League One, Yeovil Town who stand just above the relegation places have a tough trip to Bristol Rovers, who are twenty-first in the table, two places but just one point behind the Glovers.
Team News:
After playing a whole 90 minutes for the reserves midweek against Macclesfield, on-loan Liverpool defender Godwin Antwi returns to the Tranmere side after a month out with an ankle strain. However, Ryan Shotton is expected to retain his place at right-back. Gareth Edds though is once again expected to miss out through a groin strain that forced him to miss the Huddersfield match.
Jones' Prediction: Peterborough 0-1 Tranmere Rovers
I genuinely believe Tranmere have a chance to pick up another three points here, especially after their success at Huddersfield last weekend.
These two teams could cancel themselves out quite nicely, as whilst Peterborough have a very strong attack, although somewhat less so without Aaron McLean, Tranmere also have a very good defence, with Ian Goodison and Ben Chorley at the heart of it both in magnificent form.
If Tranmere manage to keep the Peterborough attackers quiet, as we know they're capable of, then they definately have a chance to sneak a goal at the other end.
Their best chance of a goal might well come from a set piece. With Ryan Shotton and Antony Kay both very good at winning the ball in the air, if the likes of Andy Taylor can put in a good delivery, then Kay and Shotton will both have a chance to add to their tally for the season, as both are very powerful, strong headers of the ball and have good jumps on them.
Elsewhere, Bas Savage could once again be vital for Tranmere, as his hold up play, as was shown at Huddersfield last weekend, is crucial, especially should Rovers want to run the clock down.
The big man can hold the ball up and run with it, creating chances for both himself and the team. Should Ronnie Moore, as is expected, pick the same team that won at the Galpharm Stadium last weekend, then Ian Moore and Chris Greenacre will both, without doubt, benefit from Savage's use of the ball.