Peterborough Sports boss believes there are plenty of good signs in a squad trying to climb a mountain

The city side were held to a 1-1 draw by fellow National League North strugglers Alfreton Town, but the fact captain Dan Jarvis equalised in the 89th minute meant momentum will still be carried into Tuesday’s home game against Buxton (7.45pm kick off).

Sports remain next-to-bottom, but they are within two points of safety after picking up four points from their last two matches.

Brown felt his side had the quality to beat Alfreton, but they conceded from a half-cleared set-piece early in the game against a tough, physical team who played to their set-piece strengths and who slowed the game down at every opportunity.

"It was frustrating to a certain extent,” Brown, a former Premier League manager, admitted in his post-match interview with Peterborough Community Radio. “But we got a point we deserved in the end because we kept going against a team that were difficult to play against. They are a big side who have a certain way of playing and we fell behind early because of that.

"Second balls are always crucial no matter what the level – and I’ve managed at the top level – and we went on the commandeer 69% of possession from them in the first-half, but we just didn’t do enough with them.

"But we kept knocking at the door and eventually it opened. The subs we sent on early in the second-half made a difference and in the end we had enough quality on the pitch to win the game.

"Alfreton were not here to entertain, but we were and I hope our fans took that thought away from the game. We are trying to climb a mountain here and no-one here is believing the grass is any greener because we’ve taken four points from two games. We still have plenty to do and the point gives us that little bit of momentum to take into Tuesday’s game. It was important we got something from this game.

"The impact of the subs has given me food for thought ahead of Tuesday, but there are obviously things to work on and build on here and that is music to my ears. There are good signs in that dressing room.

"A clean sheet mentality will help us get out of trouble. Our centre-halves Charlie Hickinbottom and Richard Faakye looked like they love a scrap which is good to see as was a goal for Dan Jarvis.

"Dan has become captain because of what he says in the dressing room and what he does on the pitch and in the dressing room. He has a never-say-die attitude and he leads by example. His contribution since I’ve been here has been outstanding.

"We had five lads who didn’t make our matchday squad who would walk into most teams at this level which shows how much depth we have now.

Brown picked up a yellow card during yesterday’s game and spent some of the first-half on the opposite side of the ground to the dugouts, partly to get away from a ‘busy’ fourth official.

The second-half substitutes used by Sports were Sam Straughan-Brown, Tai Williams, former Alfreton player Ben Beresford and latest new signing Connor Wood.

Those who didn’t make the Sports matchday squad included on-loan Barnsley wing-back Bayley McCann and former Peterborough United striker Shaquile Coulthirst.