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Portsmouth defeat reaction: Posh will not press the panic button
Peterborough United v Portsmouth at London Road: Defender Gaby Zakuani admits Posh were poor on Saturday. Photo: Ben Davis/Peterborough ET
THERE is no panic in the Posh dressing room despite a run of form which is threatening to drag the team down into a Championship relegation fight, but transfer window signings haven’t been ruled out.
Following a dismal display in Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat by Portsmouth, the gap between Posh and the bottom three could be down to six points if results go against Darren Ferguson’s side in Tuesday’s (31 January) Championship fixtures.
Posh are without a midweek game so will be casting a keen eye on matches involving current relegation favourites Nottingham Forest (home to Burnley), Doncaster (away to Hull) and Coventry (away to Blackpool).
But the Posh players remain confident they can stay out of relegation trouble. Defender Craig Alcock insists Saturday was one of those rare occasions when a team has a collective off-day.
Alcock said: “There’s certainly no panic among the players, We all believe in each other and we all believe in the manager’s philosophy on the game.
“We didn’t play well against Portsmouth although 3-0 was probably harsh on us, but we are still confident that we will enjoy a decent season.
“We tried to play a certain way and it didn’t come off for us, but it wasn’t a case of confidence being low, it was just one those days when little came off for us.
“The early goal was a real blow and it was a big disappointment for me. I managed to block the first shot, but I then thought Joe Lewis was going to drop on the ball so I didn’t swing hard at the ball in case I took his head off.
“Instead their striker got there first and that gave them a boost and made the afternoon much harder for ourselves.
“The second goal was disappointing as well from a set-piece, but the bottom line is we didn’t play well.
“We will bounce back though. We are already looking forward to the next game at Burnley.”
Posh boss Darren Ferguson made four changes to the starting line-up following the home defeat by Brighton the previous Saturday.
George Boyd, Grant McCann, Joe Newell and Lee Frecklington all returned, while Alcock was switched back to right-back to enable Tommy Rowe to play left-back. Regular right-back Mark Little, striker Emile Sinclair and midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe were all left on the substitutes’ bench.
The line-up didn’t please all Posh fans, some of whom heckled goalkeeper Joe Lewis and forward Lee Tomlin before and during the match.
Popular centre-back Gaby Zakuani used his Twitter account to remind fans that Posh are still exceeding pre-season expectations.
“Like I always say, fans are always entitled to their opinions as they pay to watch. We’re really disappointed but do not forget our main aim!
“It’s easy to be a player and fan when results are going in your favour, but these are the times when you find things out.
“Someone tweeted me saying ‘being a Posh fan is hard, hard work.’ Really? Three promotions in four seasons is good going in my book,
“A big thank you to all the loyal fans, we believe in what we are trying to achieve and we are good enough. No-one is more disappointed than the players with the result, so next week can’t come quick enough.”
-- POSH boss Darren Ferguson didn’t rule out making any new signings ahead of Tuesday’s transfer window deadline. Clubs have until 11pm tomorrow to complete any permanent transfers.
What do you think about Posh’s prefroamnce and their current league position?
Comment below, email alan.swann@peterboroughtoday.co.uk, follow and comment on Twitter - @swannyPosh or use hashtag #pufc
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Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
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Wind direction: East
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Comments
There are 2 comments to this article
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DonB
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 01:10 AMLoosing on Saturday was not the end of the world. Win or lose I look forward to our next game. Until the present time, Posh have a reputation of producing exceptional goalkeepers.
Danhar
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 01:26 PMEvery Posh fan at the start of the season would have settled for one place above the relegation places, but when we have not seen one team really outplay us and where we were only a couple of months ago, its so dissappointing to have watched us decline in the way we have. But we have 2 or 3 players who have not performed to any sort of level anyone should expect yet they are still played week in week out. WHY? Every fan can see it so why can't the managment? Perhaps they train well during the week but if they can't perform on a Saturday then whats the point....LEWIS, ROWE & TOMLIN in particular..
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