The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Players respond to wise words
Posh boss Darren Ferguson had to lean on all his managerial experience to keep his side on track for the League One play-offs.
Posh moved to within one point of the top six after a 2-0 home win over close rivals Derby County last weekend thanks to second-half strikes from Ephron Mason-Clark and Nathanael Ogbeta.
But Ferguson was a frustrated man for 45 minutes of the match as the visitors bossed the ball for long periods.
Crucially Posh reached the break at 0-0 and Ferguson could work his magic.
"I had some choice words to say to the players at halftime,” Ferguson said. “And credit to the players as the ‘real us’ turned up in the second-half. It was a real night and day performance.
"The biggest thing I said to them was, ‘if you carry on playing like that and lose the game, you’re going to regret it, maybe for the rest of your careers.’ This was such a big game and we hadn’t turned up at that point.
"We didn’t do any of the things we had worked on in the first half which can happen.
"I told the players that we had to turn up now and play how we want to play. We
didn’t do that in the first half. They were so comfortable and I didn’t like it.
"We changed tactically to add a bit more balance to the team.
"We changed shape to one we had worked on all week in case we didn’t get control.
"We spoke about how aggressive they were and that they can really strangle you because they press well and the players just responded superbly.
"I was really proud of them at the end. They showed what they are about and in the second-half they were exceptional.”
Posh will definitely move into the play-off places with a win at home to lowly Oxford on Saturday as fifth-placed Bolton are occupied with the
EFL Trophy Final at Wembley.
When Ferguson took charge of his first Posh match, of his fourth spell as manager, his team were three places and five points outside the play-off places. They were nine points adrift of Bolton and Derby.
After losing 5-0 at home to Bolton on February 11, the gap to the Trotters was 12 points and increased to 15 points not long afterwards.
Posh have won nine and lost four of their 14 matches under Ferguson. The 28 points they’ve gained at two points a game is automatic promotion form.
Their goal difference has improved to just two worse than Derby and three worse than Bolton. They’ve scored more goals than their main rivals for a top six spot.
Posh have also kept six clean sheets under Ferguson after also picking up six clean sheets in the 24 matches under Grant McCann, although they still have the worst record for goals conceded (47) of any side in the top 10.
Away form has seen the biggest transformation with Posh winning five out of seven on the road for Ferguson compared to three out of 12 under McCann, but the fixture schedule has a lot to do with that.
**The League One table above does not include the Wednesday night game between Cheltenham and Sheffield Wednesday.