Four clubs that need a performance this weekend

Obviously football is very much a results business and the collation of managers that have already been relieved of their duties so far this season will allude to that.

However performances are just as important in the eyes of many. Peterborough owner Darragh MacAnthony has already made it clear to his new manager Graham Westley that they must play a certain brand of football. Would he be complained if they earned promotion playing in a less than pleasing to the eye fashion? Who knows. Nevertheless, this weekend some clubs simply need to put in a performance, either after a bad defeat or below-par performance last time out.

MK Dons

Karl Robinson’s men suffered a defeat Premier League opposition during the week against Southampton. However they are now a Championship club so there is effectively they are one league below the Saints. Therefore a 6-0 home defeat with have hurt everyone connected with the football club. Robinson admitted that he was a little bit embarrassed after the game but was in awe of their Premier League opponents. They come up against Derby this Saturday, a club who aspire to be in the top flight next season. MK Dons will be hurting, so playing a game as quickly as possible is just what they want. A televised Saturday lunchtime match against the promotion favourites means that motivation is no issue. It has been a tough start to the season for them, so a spirited performance should get the fans back on side.

Millwall

It has been a mixed start to the season from the South-East London outfit, mainly because of their poor home results. Usually The Den is seen as being an intimidating venue to attend for any away side, however this season the away side has always come out on top in League One. So far they have welcomed Coventry City, Barnsley, Chesterfield and Southend United to their patch and all have thanked them by taking the three points home in return. Neil Harris will be hurting by this prospect and the pride of the Millwall faithful will be dented. They welcome a Rochdale side who themselves have endured mixed fortunes on the road this season. Teams will raise their game when going to Millwall, even more so considering they are one of the bigger clubs in the league. However Millwall need to get the home fans with them and a rousing performance should do the trick, plus a win would also help!

Peterborough United

As mentioned in the introduction at the top of this page, Graham Westley already has a big amount of pressure on his shoulders. He takes charge of his new side this weekend as they make the trip to Bradford City. His new boss Darragh MacAnthony released a lengthy statement when appointing the new manager, revealing that he must provide ‘attacking and entertaining football’. He was well aware of the perception supporters have of Westley based on his former clubs. Whilst some of that criticism may seem harsh, the fact of the matter is that Westley knows he has to produce. A tough looking away trip to Valley Parade perhaps isn’t the place to produce this required free-flowing football. Nevertheless he will look to set down a marker and really get the fans on side with a fine team performance. Thankfully the pitch at Bradford has significantly improved from last season, so Westley’s men have no excuses to get their football going come Saturday at 3pm.

Morecambe

Morecambe have started the season very well in League Two, however they entertain tomorrow’s game away to Oxford United on the back of a very poor result. It was not only a poor result to lose 4-2 at home to Northampton Town, but boss Jim Bentley was just as furious with their performance. He said that the Cobblers ‘on another day could have scored seven or eight’. With the greatest respect to Northampton, to have played that badly against them is simply not good enough. Bentley is a man that has very high standards of his players and demands 100% from that in every minute of every game. Therefore a big reaction can be expected, no doubt after a hard week of training as well. Oxford is probably one of the hardest fixtures they could’ve picked to play after such a poor performance. They are in decent form but Bentley and Morecambe at least understand that a higher quality performance is needed to get any kind of positive result. They need to get back to basics and not allow last week’s poor performance and result to take over what has been a fairly decent start to the season.

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