Peterborough United v Cambridge United: U’s head coach Garry Monk makes Posh ‘huge favourites’ for Cambridgeshire derby

Cambridge United head coach Garry Monk has heaped the pressure on rivals Peterborough United ahead of this afternoon’s Cambridgeshire derby at London Road.

The U’s make the short journey up the A14 in good form of late after they ended a winless start to the season with five straight victories, keeping a clean sheet in each.

That run has moved Cambridge to within a point of safety, yet despite having the momentum on their side, Monk believes that 13th-placed Posh are the ‘huge favourites’ going into the encounter.

He said: “We know how difficult it’s going to be and obviously they’ll be huge favourites for the game – quite rightly.

“We understand that (being underdogs), but we’ll use that as determination for ourselves – there isn’t too much need for motivation.

“We full focus on ourselves, the run we’re on and the belief. We know that’s only come through hard work so we have to continue that hard work and work even harder to get the result.

“We know we’ll come up against a fight and a determination from them, but we’ll be focused on ourselves to try and get the right outcome for us and our fans.”

Monk also conceded that his side’s ongoing sequence of clean sheets will be put under severe pressure.

Peterborough have scored 25 goals this term – only table-topping Wycombe Wanderers have found the back of the net on more occasions. However, Cambridge can take some solace from the fact that their hosts have conceded a division-high 26 goals at the other end of the pitch.

Monk, who revealed that midfielder Paul Digby will miss up to 10 weeks with a calf injury, added: “Their forward threat is probably as good as you get in this league.

“Being away from home in that type of atmosphere, all those things do play a part and we’re going to need everything to go for us defensively to keep another clean sheet.

“It’s been hugely difficult to do that already in the five games, but it’s something that adds more motivation to continue it.

“We also know that we have our own threats and we can do well with them. We can defend well of course and it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to against one of the best attacks in the league.

“But we also feel there’s an opportunity for us to attack as well and create situations – hopefully we manage to do that well enough.”