COLIN COOPER says Boro must match Peterborough's effort and enthusiasm to get the win they need against the Championship strugglers this weekend.

Posh have lost their last four games, three in the league, but new manager Mark Cooper will be just as keen to get a famous first victory under his belt as Gordon Strachan is for Boro.

"We're a scalp in this division," said Boro's Cooper. "First and foremost we'll need to match the hard work and endeavour that we know Peterborough will give us. We'll need a really strong, disciplined performance from the defensive part of our team and a really strong, aggressive performance from our forwards to make sure we create enough chances to win the game."

Peterborough experienced a meteoric rise under previous manager Darren Ferguson, who led them to two successive promotions.

But they have found life tough in the Championship and Ferguson departed in controversial circumstances after winning only two league games all season.

However, they knocked Newcastle United out of the Carling Cup at London Road earlier in the season and Cooper says Boro players will have to adapt quickly to what will be an unfamiliar environment for many of them.

"The surroundings at Peterborough, having played there myself, will be something some of our lads won't have experienced," he said.

"But you get that out of your head once you cross the white line. It's a game we know we can win if we do the right things at the right times and make good decisions.

"There isn't anybody in this league we can't beat. We can compete with anybody, home and away."

Boro will be without Rhys Williams as he serves a one-match suspension for picking up five bookings and Cooper says he will be missed.

"So far this season he's exceeded everyone's expectations, including his own," he said. "He came onto the scene on the back of getting into the Australian national squad.

"We all know the quality he has but he got thrust into that midfield role against Sheffield United and he's come up trumps every single time and not let the side down at all on any occasion when he's played.

"He put in a sterling performance at right-back on Saturday and unfortunately picked up is fifth yellow which means he gets a suspension.

"But that gives an opportunity for someone else to come in at right-back and have a go at it."

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