Fergie is hurting, but he accepts the criticism from fans

BIG MATCH REPORT: HEAVIEST HOME DEFEAT OF THE SEASON

Posh manager Darren Ferguson admits criticism of him and his players is justified, but he’s getting on with the job of keeping the club in the Championship.

Last Saturday’s 4-1 home humbling at the hands of Coventry City led to a nasty night on social media for Ferguson and his playing squad.

Ferguson accepts that as part and parcel of managing a struggling side, although the three teams directly above Posh, Reading, Cardiff and Hull all lost as well so no ground was lost.

Reading and Hull were however in action on Wednesday night (scores on www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk).

“The players and I are hurting as much as the fans,” Ferguson insisted. “You can trust me on that.

“WeknowSaturdaywasnowhere near good enough and I was shocked by the performance.

“It came out of nowhere as in every previous home game we have been very competitive without always getting the result we wanted.

“I also know people want instant success these days so bad results and bad performances get bad reactions.

“People will say ‘change the manager’ and ‘the players are all awful’, but I say stick with us. I don’t see anyone chucking the towel in.

“Unfortunately you get games, and it’s not a nice thing for a manager to admit, when you just have to accept the other team was much better than you on the day.

“We made errors that were ruthlessly punished which is usually the case in this division and I changed formation early because they were getting through us too easily, but the game was just too open and that suited them because of the quality they have.

“We had a good 10 minutes at the start of the second-half, but other than that they were miles better than us. When we had good possession we made poor decisions so didn’t create much.

“We had a good chat with the players on Monday and there were no raised voices and no shouting.

“We know it wasn’t good enough and it can’t be repeated or else we have no chance, but we will stick together.

“We are in a mini-league now of six teams and we have to finish in the top three. Birmingham are possibly close enough to be caught as well.

“We just have to find a way to stay in the league and I believe we can. If we finish fourth bottom with a low number of points than so be it.

“We can then use the summer to iron out the problems.”

Posh on the attack in the 4-1 defeat to Coventry City

Former Posh striker Matt Godden after one of his goals for Coventry.