Britt inspires conga craze as Posh fans go wild for striker following summer switch.

Cast an eye to the away end of Sunderland’s Stadium of Light this evening, and if things are going to plan for Peterborough in the Capital One Cup, it is likely to resemble a wedding disco.
‘Let’s all do the Conga, for Britt Assombalonga,’ is the chant that Peterborough fans have come up with to laud their summer signing who cannot stop scoring.
The wittier supporters have been quick off the mark but they are not as swift as this Watford youth team product.

Firing on all cylinders: Britt Assombalonga has hit the ground running at Peterborough

He has eight goals in 10 games since moving for a club record £1.5million, an eye-watering outlay for a League One side, even for one that could rake in £8.5m by selling Dwight Gayle to Crystal Palace.
‘When the fans make a song for you, it makes you feel good inside,’ says the 20-year-old. ‘It makes you feel wanted.’
Aware that relegation from the Championship would prompt the sale of Gayle, Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson found it hard to convince Watford to agree to a permanent move for Assombalonga rather than another loan spell.
‘We always had it that Britt was the one but we just couldn’t get the deal done,’ says Ferguson.
‘We had to pay what we felt was over the odds. Over a million quid is a big transfer fee but he was always our No 1 target. Fortunately the boy was hungry to come.’

Fans' favourite: Assombalonga has endeared himself to the Posh supporters with his form

Assombalonga wanted a permanent home after loan spells at Wealdstone, Braintree and Southend, and limited first-team action under Gianfranco Zola at Watford.
‘I didn’t want to be sitting on the bench at Watford, sometimes not even being in the squad,’ he said.  ‘I thought, “Let’s start afresh”.’
Not that there has been any hiatus in his knack of scoring; he was off the mark with a fierce shot to sink Swindon on his debut. ‘The first goal against Swindon was an important one,’ reasons Ferguson. ‘He has taken the confidence and belief out of that, and his work ethic is fantastic.’
The need to make the very best of his talent has been instilled into Assombalonga by his father Fedor, a former Democratic Republic of Congo international, and mother Beatrice. They took the decision to leave the troubled African state when their son was just eight months old.

Paolo Di Canio

But Assombalonga was given constant reminders of his heritage while growing up in London district Swiss Cottage with brother Christian and sisters Vanessa and Leslie.
‘It wasn’t like as soon as we got here everything stopped,’ he says. ‘My parents kept the African dream alive. They told us about when they used to have to walk miles to go to school. It was a struggle for them. That is why they wanted us to come over to Europe to have a better life.’
Assombalonga will look to add to his goal tally against a Sunderland side in turmoil following the sudden departure of manager Paolo Di Canio after a player rebellion.
‘Hopefully we can rock the Stadium of Light,’ Assombalonga says of the prospect of a giantkilling.
Find the net yet again and it will be rocking to the beat of the Assombalonga Conga.