Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson reveals message to squad ahead of Sunderland clash

The automatic promotion rivals go head-to-head on Monday at the Weston Homes Stadium (3pm) but Posh first travel to the North West on Easter Friday, with Sunderland hosting Oxford United at the Stadium of Light.

Speaking ahead of the Easter weekend fixtures, Ferguson said: “The Sunderland match will look after itself.

“The players won’t need any motivation for a big game that’s live on Sky.

“It’s always a big game when you play Sunderland anyway. It’s just a shame there won’t be any fans present as there would have been a brilliant atmosphere.

“But we have to take care of business at Fleetwood first. It’s always tough up there and we don’t have the best record in this fixture.

“The pitch won’t be good, not that a bad pitch seems to bother us at home, and if the wind blows it’s a really hard place to play."

Sunderland head into the home game with Oxford on the back of the win against Joey Barton’s Bristol Rovers last weekend.

Sunderland are the form side and Lee Johnson will be hoping the Black Cats can finally break into the top two over the Easter weekend, with his side just three points off league leaders Hull City with two games in hand.

Jordan Jones could return to the squad having trained this week at the Academy of Light, a further boost for promotion-chasing Sunderland.

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