The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Keep proving the critics are wrong
Posh boss Darren Ferguson has urged his players to keep defying the critics.
The smallest crowd of the League One season at the Weston Homes Stadium watched Posh breathe life into a faltering push for the playoffs with a 2-1 win over close rivals Shrewsbury Town.
Frankie Kent’s late winning goal moved Posh up a place to eighth and to within seven points of Derby County, who now occupy the final play-off place.
Posh have a game in hand on the Rams and play them at London Road in the last fixture of this month.
Ferguson’s men had lost ground on the top six when losing 1-0 at League One leaders Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
“It was a low-key atmosphere at home,” Ferguson admitted. “There weren’t as many fans as I thought we’d get.
"Perhaps they have written us off? But we have to keep proving people wrong and hanging on in there.
“The key, at this stage of the season, is not so much about how well you play, but getting results.
"The important thing now is the mentality of digging out results when perhaps you don’t play brilliantly and the players did it in this game.
“We have to just hang on in there and see where it takes us.
"When it gets to the last six games, strange things will happen, it always does. There
will be a lot of pressure on the teams above us.
“I’ve not given up and this win was important to keep everyone else believing.
"It was a must-win game given the previous couple of results.
"And we thoroughly deserved it. They had two shots at goal all game. We maybe got a bit of luck with the late goal, but we’ve not had much of that this season.
“We tried everything and credit goes to the players for finding the belief to keep going and eventually we’ve got the winner.
"They’re a good bunch and this win showed they will keep believing they can get a result no matter how late they leave it.”
Disappointment at Hillsborough was diluted by the first starting appearance for over 11 months for former Posh club captain Oliver Norburn who has battled back from knee surgery.
He’d been absent for 344 days. “It’s been a long journey, but one I can say I have overcome,” Norburn said after the 1-0 loss.
“Just glad to be back out there. Thanks to my friends, family, teammates & staff for their support throughout.”
"Ollie did fine,” Ferguson added. “We still have to look after him, but it’s great to have him back for the run-in. He’s a top player and a big influence in the dressing room.
"It was a disappointing result though as I felt we had a great chance to go and win the game in the second half.
"But we stopped passing the ball and you can’t beat a team like Wednesday by going route one.
"The game was a reminder of what the Championship is all about. If you want to play in the Championship you have to come to big grounds to play strong opposition and get results.
"Some might say we did okay in this game because of who we were playing, but okay is not enough for us right now."
Wednesday are on a club record run of 21 Football League games without defeat.