Mackail-Smith terrorised the Bristol Rovers defence for 90 minutes as Posh won an incredible match 5-4 at London Road.

And it was the Posh striker who walked off with the man-of-the-match bubbly as well as the match ball.

Mackail-Smith, who saw his strike partner Aaron Mclean stretchered off with a dislocated elbow in the first half, said: "I've been getting plenty of chances this season, but I've not been as clinical as I would have liked.

"But I've been working hard on my finishing with the manager and Kevin Russell the coach and it paid off for me today.

"It was probably the most amazing game I've ever played in though. We were two goals ahead four times and yet each time Rovers fought back.

"Credit to them for never giving up, but credit to us also for getting a result that we needed very badly.

"We know we have a great team here and we know that we could have got something out of all five of the matches we had already played.

"But football doesn't work like that so it was important to get a win by whatever means possible and we are very pleased that we managed it.

"The one downside was the injury to Aaron. We were playing really well together and we had set up a goal for each other, but Scott Rendell came on and did a fine job anyway.

"The result will hopefully give us the impetus to go on and climb the table. We have some big games coming up, but we will go into them with plenty of confidence."

Mackail-Smith has now scored five goals this season to sit among the top scorers in League One. Rendell opened his account for the season with a late header following a superb cross from fellow substitute Chris Whelpdale.

Rendell said: "It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time as it was a brilliant cross from Chris.

"It took me a while to get into the game, but I felt I contributed well in the second half. The manager just told me to go out and play my normal game."

Posh moved up to 12th in League One as a result of their second win of the season.