Pre-Match Thoughts - Southend United

As many of my regular readers will know by now, I usually do a post before and after each match. But if I'm honest, I had absolutely nothing to say about the shambles that took place at Walsall last week. It was a joke, an embarrassment, and simply not good enough from everyone involved in the incidents in the dying moments of the match.

So moving swiftly on, we host Southend United at the ABAX tonight, in a game which really could make or break our season. Southend are just ahead of us, and in my mind this game really is win or bust.

Posh

Following Saturday's events, Posh will be missing captain (and I use the term in its loosest possible form) Chris Forrester after his stupid red card, as well as Anthony Grant, who picked up his 10th yellow of the season at Walsall. Gwion Edwards was stretchered off on Saturday and will miss tonights fixture, whilst Grant McCann refused to rule out Michael Bostwick, who has been making good progress in his recovery from a broken jaw.

Dominic Ball is capable of playing at the base of the diamond, which could see a return to the line up for Jack Baldwin. Brad Inman could also play as Posh are short on numbers in midfield. Paul Taylor was below par on Saturday, so I'm expecting him to be back amongst the subs. Martin Samuelsen could start, and I'd fully expect Marcus Maddison to return to the line up tonight.

Jerome Binnom-Williams missed out on Saturday, and providing he's fit, I'd expect him to return to the squad, although Andrew Hughes didn't really do too much wrong on Saturday in my book.

I think we're going to see a mix up in the starting XI tonight, and really it's difficult to guess who will play. In all honesty, any one of Saturday's team could be dropped, and I imagine some of them will be.

My predicted line up (click image to enlarge):

Subs: Tyler, Binnom-Williams, Da Silva Lopes, Bostwick, Taylor, Morias, Nichols

Southend United

Southend have enjoyed a good season up to now, and currently sit in 6th - three points clear of Posh. They were pegged back twice on Saturday by Northampton Town, and ended up only taking a point from the game, but have beaten Oxford United and Scunthorpe in recent weeks. 

Their main goal threat is Simon Cox. He's made the step down to League One, and seems to have found his level as he's flourished under Phil Brown this term. Cox's strike partner is likely to be Marc-Antoine Fortune - the veteran striker is also capable of taking his chances, so the Posh defence will have to be alert to keep them quiet tonight. 

Southend may be missing central midfielder Michael Timlin, and centre back Anton Ferdinand - whose partners are both expecting to give birth in the coming days. They both may feature in the match, but it'd certainly help Posh if they were missing and Southend were forced to make changes to their preferred line up. 

Prediction: Posh 1-2 Southend - I can't justify predicting a Posh win after Saturday's farce. Southend have been going very well in the league this season and Posh's weakened midfield might pay dividends in tonight's game. Southend actually have players capable of scoring on a regular basis and I just can't see Posh coming out of it with anything more than a point. Hopefully they prove me wrong!