Both of them will be looking for their respective teams to bounce back after losing at home last week, Peterborough beaten 1-0 by Hull and Middlesbrough winning 2-0 at Turf Moor.
Ferguson believes the game could hinge on his side getting an early goal. He said today: “I’d love to see us take the lead with an early goal. It would relax us and I am sure getting in front would suit the way we like to play.
“We are suited to hitting teams on the break so the first goal could be crucial tomorrow. Hull manager Nigel Pearson admitted last week that if we had managed to score first his team would have found it very difficult to get back into the game.
“That’s not to say we will lose our patience if it doesn’t happen though. We are playing well enough to win in any fashion, but scoring first would give Burnley a few more problems.”
The Posh manager is also looking for his star player George Boyd to shine. He added: “George went off with a calf strain at Brighton and didn’t do any work before the Hull match. He didn’t deliver his best form there probably because he lacked his usual sharpness, but he didn’t play badly either.
“He’s a quality player though even at Championship level so I have no concerns about him whatsoever. He’s looked good this week and I’m anticipating a big performance from him.”
Eddie Howe knows Burnley are going to have to put in a much better performance than they did a week ago. The defeat against Middlesbrough has been met with heavy criticism from all quarters and he is backing his players to put that behind them.
A lot of the criticism went the way of a defence that has now gone 19 league and cup games without keeping a clean sheet but Howe was quick to say that it's not just those players in the back four.
"I think people are quick to point the finger at the back four. I don't think that's always the case. It's a team effort," he said. "Our midfield has to protect the back four a little bit better and our front two have to protect the midfield four a little bit better.
"It's been a difficult season in terms of conceding goals but I don't think teams have created loads of chances against us. I think you only have to look at the Middlesbrough game. As poorly as we played they didn't create an abundance of chances. The two chances they took and I think that's been the story of our season."
He knows that we have to stop giving goals away and added: "I think a clean sheet is just around the corner if we all stick together and continue to work hard. It's maybe a silly thing to say if you look at our record but I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong.
"I think it's a case of the team as a whole defending each other better. I don't think we are far away from being a good defensive unit and with some more work on the training pitch and some more time I think we will get there."
Howe knows that Peterborough are a team renowned for goalscoring. "To hit seven past Ipswich is a tremendous achievement," he said. They have had a couple of defeats as well but they are a dangerous side, especially at home..
"They play with a lot of freedom and have a lot of attacking players and we will not under-estimate them, but our last away game was a really good performance and a really good win and hopefully we can repeat that."