‘My 12 year-old would have done better’

A familiar failing did for Posh against Preston at Deepdale.

Big centre-back Patrick Bauer scored the only goal of the Championship fixture in the 14th minute with a free sixyard header following a Ryan Ledson free kick.

Posh have also conceded goals in league games this season to a corner at Luton, a corner at home to Derby and two partially-cleared long throws in the home draw with Cardiff City.

Question marks last weekend were raised against goalkeeper Christy Pym, who was rooted to his line, and centreback Josh Knight who had been detailed to mark Bauer.

Posh co-owner Darragh MacAnthony reckoned his ‘12 year-old would have done a better job than my six foot four inch centre-back,’ but Pym was far more diplomatic.

Pym said: “There’s no point in pointing the finger at the coaches. It’s us players who have to go out there and implement the plans. It’s not as though we have been given mad tactics.

“We don’t get enough first contacts and we sit too deep.

Maybe with the goal I should have come out and smashed everything in my path, but there were a lot of bodies in the penalty area.

“We should start higher and win those first contacts. They are pretty basic tactics and if you get them right you won’t concede. Good basics will win a lot of points this season.”

Pym, who made a couple of excellent one-on-one saves at Preston, insists confidence within the Posh squad remains high.

“We didn’t do what we worked on in the first half ,” Pym added. “And that’s what cost us. We need to make things happen ourselves rather than wait for things to happen.

“But we were excellent in the second half and we showed then and with the game against Cardiff that we can compete at this level.

“I back myself in one on ones. I try to hold my position and let the striker make a decision.

“We were chasing the game so always likely to leave ourselves open.”

Posh goalkeeper Christy Pym makes a save for Posh at Preston,