Peterborough to put pressure on League One leaders with TV win

Walsall will be hoping to breathe life into their faltering League One campaign with a win against Peterborough in front of the Sky cameras and their own fans.

The Saddlers beat struggling Shrewsbury last time out in the FA Cup, but Posh will need no motivation ahead of this tie after Leyton Orient’s home loss against Preston.

Peterborough to win @ 6/4

Posh come into this clash with renewed confidence after Johnstone’s Paint Trophy and FA Cup home wins in the last two matches.

Their nine-match unbeaten run in League One came to an end with successive losses at Colchester and at home against Orient, but a win in the west Midlands would move Darren Ferguson’s men to within three points of the second-placed O’s.

Ferguson could hardly have picked more accommodating hosts for his charges than Walsall, as only four teams have lost more League One home games than Dean Smith’s outfit this term.

Three of their last six matches at the Bescot Stadium have ended in defeat and Smith’s side have now won just twice in their last eight in the league.

Peterborough have won three of their last four games on the road in the division and can keep the pressure on the top two by claiming maximum points from this fixture.

Britt Assombalonga to score first @ 5/1

Posh’s 20-year-old number nine was brought in to replace last year’s top-scorer Dwight Gayle after the latter’s summer move to Crystal Palace, but Assombalonga has struggled for goals of late, with a single strike registered in his last eight League One appearances.

Grant McCann and Tyrone Barnett have chipped in with two goals each during that period and the former appeals at the same 5/1 odds to score at any time, as McCann has converted four times from the penalty spot in all competitions this term.

However, Assombalonga came back to form in the last two cup games, with the opener against Exeter and the only goal at home to Dagenham and Redbridge in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy southern area quarter-final.