HUDDERSFIELD TOWN know Championship survival is still in their own hands – but also that they must overcome concerns about the John Smith’s Stadium pitch and bolster a disappointing home record, starting against relegation rivals Peterborough tomorrow.

It’s the last home 3.00 kick-off of the campaign (Milwall on April 20 is 12.30 and Barnsley on May 4 is 12.45), and how Mark Robins’ third-bottom side could do with the three-point haul which would hoist them back out of the drop zone.

That’s a certainty, because Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn, two of the other three sides on 47 points, clash at Hillsborough (fifth-bottom Barnsley go to play-off chasing Crystal Palace while Wolves, on 48 points, are at Bolton).

Beating Posh would also create a four-point gap between clubs who have something of a recent history after Darren Ferguson’s side clinched that 3-0 League I play-off final win at Old Trafford two years ago.

Posh survived by 10 points last season, finishing 18th, but have been up against it this time around, when they have been marooned in the bottom four all the way through, only to provide their fans with fresh hope thanks to a seven-match unbeaten run.

They have won three of their last five meetings with Town, whose only success in that sequence came in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in October 2010, but there hasn’t been a Posh victory in Huddersfield since 2002-03, when Town were relegated to the fourth tier.

Now for some more recent stats ... Town have suffered two successive 1-0 home defeats (to Charlton then Hull), they have failed to score in four of their last five games at the John Smith’s and they haven’t managed to net more than two goals in a home game all season.

There’s no doubt the pitch has been a problem, with midfielder Oscar Gobern noting after the Hull clash: “The ball has to go in the air a lot more than we would like and it’s difficult to get it down and play.

“Because it’s bobbly, none of us want to get caught in a sticky situation and give the opposition the chance to counter-attack and possibly score, and the safer bet is usually to put it into the channels and the corners.”

It was frustrating to arrive at Bolton on Tuesday and see the same Desso GrassMaster pitch as at the John Smith’s looking far greener, and many suggested the better surface was a big factor in Town’s much-improved performance, albeit in a 1-0 defeat.

But things aren’t going to change overnight, so Robins’ side must find a way to cope with a tricky surface which they have more experience of than opposing teams and add to the six home wins already achieved.

In the most unpredictable of divisions, Posh are the most unpredictable of teams, and have collected more away wins (seven) than home (six) and done the double over leaders Cardiff, who were beaten 2-1 at London Road last Saturday.

Tuesday’s goalless draw at Middlesbrough was their fourth stalemate in that seven-match unbeaten run, and boss Ferguson said: “We weren’t at our best, particularly in the first half when we failed to retain the ball, but dug in to get something out of the game.

“Middlesbrough are a very good team and I like the way they play. They were challenging for automatic promotion at Christmas but have been on a poor run since. Players don’t become bad overnight though and they caused us problems.

“We were much better after the break when we dropped off more and tried to hit them on the counter-attack which we did well on two-or-three occasions. Grant McCann’s experience helped us do that after he replaced young Joe Newell.

“I felt Joe’s energy would help us but we didn’t get to grips with the game and I had to make the tactical change. Joe, Mark Little and Dwight Gayle all had good chances that they couldn’t put away while players put their bodies on the line to make important blocks at the other end.

“That’s the sort of thing you need when fighting to avoid relegation. We’ll find out at the end of the season whether or not it is a good point, but what it does do is keep our best run of the season going.”

Gayle, recruited on loan from Dagenham and Redbridge in November, is Posh’s 11-goal top scorer while fellow frontman Lee Tomlin has weighed in with 10 and Grant McCann six, including two penalties against Cardiff six days ago.

On-loan Tottenham winger Alex Pritchard is in contention for a return from injury, as is former Stevenage centre-back Michael Bostwick, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring problem, although his replacement Craig Alcock has impressed.

Town midfielder Adam Clayton completes a two-match ban while Robins has a concern over right-back Jack Hunt (hamstring) and is still missing midfielder Keith Southern (Achilles) for a match to be refereed by Cheshire’s Mark Heywood.