Jonah not to blame for a Palace coup

DARREN Ferguson refused to pin the blame on goalkeeper Paul Jones as Posh slipped to their ninth Championship away defeat of the season.

Jones’ failure to collect a free-kick pumped into the penalty area led to Crystal Palace midfielder Milo Jedinak scoring the only goal of the game 15 minutes from time at Selhurst Park.

But Posh boss Ferguson was more concerned with a poor all-round display by his team in the second half. Posh had bossed the first period without taking advantage.

“We stopped doing the things we had done well in the first half,” Ferguson moaned. “There was so much wrong with our second half display I’m not going to single out the goalkeeper for his mistake.

“Paul made three or four great saves in that game so I’m not having the blame passed onto him. We were poor after the break and that was disappointing as we had started the game so well.

“We went back to the midfield diamond for this match because I knew it would cause them problems and it did. Some of our movement and passing was first-class, but we just needed to grab a goal when we were on top.

“I told the lads at half-time that Palace were bound to improve. I know what it’s like playing at Selhurst Park and they like attacking the end where the majority of their supporters are.

“And to be fair to Palace they were as good in the second half as we were poor. I asked the players to stay calm and composed and to keep hold of the ball when we had it, but we did exactly the opposite.

“Palace switched the play very well and caused us problems, but if we had scored when we were on top it might have been a different outcome. We’ll pick ourselves up though. I know I’m boring everyone by repeating that we need four wins to stay up and we still have 13 games to get them.”

Posh remain in 18th place after Saturday’s defeat, 10 points clear of the bottom three.

OUT OF REACH: Paul Jones fails to get to a free-kick that led to the Palace goal.