Saturday’s FA Cup Treble

Peterborough United return to FA Cup action in good spirits having returned to the play-off places following a run of just 1 loss in 13.

Posh have endured some off-field turbulence this week with the announcement that Darragh McAthony’s Canadian partners have parted ways, but it didn’t stop them picking up a decent draw against fellow promotion contenders Stevenage on Tuesday night, a result that followed 4-0 and 5-0 wins.

Posh have won 6 of their 9 home matches this season and all 6 have been to nil. Notably, 5 of those victories have come in their last 6 matches on home turf and they have scored 2 or more in their last 7 in front of home supporters – McAnthony and Darren Ferguson love a high-scoring, expansive football team.

It’s interesting that Darren Ferguson will now take on former club Doncaster Rovers in round two having endured a tussle with the club his ex-Man United colleagues own in the first round.

Doncaster are in the process of turning their season around after a very tough start under Grant McCann (who has previously managed Peterborough twice, most recently dismissed last term), winning 7 and losing 5 of their last 12 league games, while also progressing in the FA Cup after seeing off fellow League Two outfit Accrington Stanley via a replay.

The major concern is their away form. They have won 2 and lost 7 of their away trips this term, with both wins coming against 2 of the current bottom 3 in League Two. They have lost all 7 away matches against sides above them in the league table and conceded 2 or more in each of those.

A selection that predominantly looks towards the visitors being in a horrible situation at present.

Forest Green Rovers beat Colchester United 5-0 and the expectation was that they were going to start moving in the right direction with key players on the return. Since then, they’ve been able to ease Jordan Moore-Taylor, Ryan Inniss and Callum Jones back into the fold only to lose three of their strikers in Matty Taylor, Matty Stevens and Callum Morton.

They have picked up just 8 points from their previous 13 matches and come into this winless in four, scoring in just one of that quartet. They also required a replay to see off National League North outfit Scarborough Athletic. They have lost 5 of their last 6 away from home with the outlier being a drab 0-0 draw against an out-of-form Walsall.

It means that Blackpool should come into this game feeling pretty confident. They have won 6 of their 11 home matches in League One this season including 5 of their last 8 and, importantly, they have scored in each of those 8 matches too, which bodes well against opponents that have conceded 2 or more in 10 of their last 13 league outings.

They do come into this game on the back of a surprise loss at home to Northampton Town, but they were the better side on the whole and their second string showed their class in the previous round against non-league Bromley, a team that sit just four places below Forest Green Rovers in the overall pyramid.

Bolton Wanderers moved to the top of the League One table after a sixth successive win at the weekend, and they stayed there despite a 0-0 draw with fellow promotion contenders Oxford United in midweek. That draw was their 5th clean sheet in a row, showing that this isn’t just a side that scores goals for fun but they’re also very difficult to play against.

That shows in the underlying numbers. The Trotters sit in the top 3 for xG for and against in League One and are well on their way to a return to the second tier. It is plausible that Evatt makes changes, but even in doing so he will be fielding the likes of Dan Nlundulu, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Kyle Dempsey – hardly major downgrades.

They take on a Harrogate Town side having an okay season in League Two but more in terms of results than performances. The Yorkshire club sit bottom of the league for xG generated and are relatively low for xG against but thanks to victories like the one against MK Dons, when they had just 3 shots compared to MK’s 27, they are in a comfortable spot.