DOUGIE Freedman says his Bolton team has come a long way since their first meeting this season with Peterborough and is confident they will show that in their display at the Reebok Stadium tonight.

In December’s reverse fixture, Wanderers conceded two early goals and were 5-2 down before a late double gave the scoreline a little more respectability.

Two months on and Freedman believes Posh will come up against a team that is now playing the way he wants and is hopeful of a third consecutive win in front of the home faithful.

The Scot said: “That game at Peterborough wasn’t a low point because we felt that particular day a few things didn’t help us, like the surface and one or two things we won’t make too much about.

“On that day, we gave everything and it ended 5-4 to them.

“It was the start that didn’t help us when we conceded two quick goals.

“I think we have addressed that now and have come a long way since then.”

Darren Ferguson’s side have been on a good run of their own with Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Birmingham ending a run of four unbeaten despite being bottom of the table.

Freedman knows they will provide a tough test, particularly from set pieces but says his team will be up for that challenge.

He added: “On current form I think Peterborough are in the top three so they will not make it easy for us.

“We have come to discover any team coming to the Reebok will make it very hard for us and try to quieten the crowd down.

“We have to make sure we keep the tempo high and give the fans something to cheer about, like Saturday, and make sure we play our game.

“If we do that we are more than capable of beating anyone at the Reebok.

“We know they are a threat from set-pieces and have done our preparation for that.

“We do that very well and understand exactly who takes the free-kicks and what position they take from corners – we know exactly where they get their goals from.

“But we also know where they can concede so we have worked on that in training and will hopefully take it into the game.”