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Ferguson: We will bounce back
DARREN Ferguson is convinced his Peterborough United side will respond positively to slumping to the bottom of the Championship for the first time this season.
DARREN Ferguson is convinced his Peterborough United side will respond positively to slumping to the bottom of the Championship for the first time this season.The 3-1 defeat at Newcastle on Saturday has left Posh a point adrift at the bottom and four points from the safety zone following an eighth away game without a win.
Indeed it could have been much worse for Posh who were 2-0 down after just 18 minutes and 3-0 behind seven minutes into the second half in front of 43,000 fans at St James' Park – the biggest crowd to ever watch a game involving Posh since they joined the Football League in 1960.
Read Alan Swann's match report and player ratings: Newcastle 3, Posh 1 - Posh lose their way in Quality Street - have your say on Posh's performance
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Dean Keates, who was installed as captain despite making his first Championship start since the opening day of the season, pulled a goal back 11 minutes from time.
Ferguson said: "We are bottom and we don't like it, but I am sure that my players will react in the right way.
"I know what I have in that dressing room and it's plenty of spirit and commitment and the players showed that in the final half an hour.
"Let's be honest and say we were outplayed by the team that will probably be champions at the end of the season, but one of the positives I will take from the game is the fact that we didn't throw the towel in.
"We could have chucked it in after losing the third goal, but instead we pushed forward and had a go.
"Obviously it was too late by then and it doesn't alter the fact that we endured another shocking start which included giving sloppy goals away.
"We have plenty of quality in the side, but you can have all the skill and ability in the world, but if you don't have the right sort of temperament you will not be able to handle big occasions like playing in front of 40,000 at Newcastle United.
"We didn't handle it very well at all for half an hour, but playing here will always be difficult for a club like ours. It's the defeats at home to the likes of Barnsley and Plymouth that have really hurt us.
"The situation is what it is, but we are staying positive and we have 30 games to put things right which is a lot of time."
Ferguson will try to bring in a new striker before the next Championship outing at Sheffield United on November 21.
The Posh preparations for St James' Park were hampered by a training injury to striker Aaron Mclean. Mclean damaged a knee last Tuesday, but the club kept the news in-house in the hope that he would recover in time.
Unfortunately he was only fit enough to sit on the substitutes' bench, although strike partner Craig Mackail-Smith did return.
Ferguson added: "It was touch and go for both Craig and Aaron and it was a last-minute decision for both of them.
"They did OK considering, although Craig missed a good chance in the second-half. I am working on bringing in a different sort of striker to help them out.
Posh Reserves have a Combination League match at Colchester to- morrow afternoon (2pm) and have therefore cancelled their proposed friendly at Spurs.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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