ALAN SWANN’s Peterborough United talking points: ‘Where has the attacking imagination and flair gone? Is an 18 year-old really going to be the answer? Set-piece woe, indiscipline, erratic officiating, but a good point earned by strong commitment to the cause’

And yet I left Sincil Bank no more confident of Posh winning promotion than I was when I left MK Dons after a much less impressive 1-1 draw three-and-a-half weeks ago.

It’s the lack of attacking imagination, the lingering loss of form of key men and the absence of any meaningful forward partnerships that concern me. Posh have scored more than one goal in just one of their last eight League One games and it’s difficult to remember more than one decent scoring opportunity yesterday despite a decent share of possesion.

Hope for a top six finish continues to be based on the lack of an outstanding opponent anywhere in the division. Maybe the absence of fans and the continued presence of a confusing virus has caused a downturn in performance throughout League One. Anyone watching the Saturday night snorefest between promotion candidates Sunderland and Hull would not be worried about facing either of them in the coming weeks.

Lincoln are nine points clear of Posh, but they didn’t play like it here. They should have won courtesy of a second-half spot-kick which was missed embarrassingly badly, ironically by Jorge Grant, the classiest player on the pitch, but they played cautiously and carefully for the most part, although the danger they threatened on the counter attack was proof of why they have such an excellent record on the road.

The Imps may well go on to win promotion, but the impression remains this is a substandard League One and it won’t take much of an improvement for Posh to get right into the race for automatic promotion.

Where there improvement comes from is not obvious though...

1) It’s a lot to ask of an 18 year-old with just two substitute appearances to his name this season to light the attacking fire at London Road, but Ricky-Jade Jones is sure to get his chance to shine pretty quickly.

It’s dangerous taking too much notice of a 25-minute substitute appearance, but Jones looked bigger and stronger at Sincil Bank since he was last seen without having lost any of his natural speed.

It was just a shame his arrival co-incided with Posh suffering a red card. Jones ran hard down the left flank and the opportunity to hit space knowing the teenager is likely to be first on the scene is handy late in games.

Siriki Dembele’s opportunity to impress would-be January transfer window suitors wasn’t taken and he might not get another chance should Jones show enough in Tuesday’s (January 12) EFL Trophy game at home to Portsmouth.

I can see Jones and Joe Ward (if he comes through the Pompey match unscathed on his return from injury) either side of Sammie Szmodics behind Jonson Clarke-Harris if Posh manager Darren Ferguson changes shape for the visit of MK Dons next Saturday (January 16).

2) For 25 minutes yesterday Szmodics was back his best. He was finding pockets of space, he was turning away from defenders and he was linking up play neatly. He hassled a mistake and a foul from a dithering defender which led indirectly to Posh taking the lead, but then the supply dried up and Szmodics faded from view. I cannot make my mind up whether it’s the forward players not making the runs or the midfielders not seeing the runs which causes manager Darren Ferguson so much anxiety on the sidelines. He fumes at the lack of tempo to his side’s (well Reece Brown’s anyway) passing, but is the reduced mobility offered by Clarke-Harris compared to Ivan Toney causing Brown to lose the ball so often?

3) Jack Taylor is largely exempt from criticism. His all-round game remains strong. Indeed there can be almost no complaints about the attitude and desire of a squad who are very committed to the cause. The workrate is there which is something to work with at least.

4) The Posh set-pieces at Sincil Bank were again largely woeful and there were plenty of them in the first-half. Harrison Burrows was entrusted with many of them, but couldn’t find the required accuracy or a suitable pace.

And to compound the set-piece misery, Lincoln equalised from one that was hopelessly defended. A routine near-post cross that somehow hit Mark Beevers and deflected straight to Anthony Scully, one of two unmarked players at the back post.

5) I’m not sure how long Ronnie Edwards can be kept out of the Posh starting line-up. He was absent yesterday as a 10-day period of self-isolation only ended 48 hours before kick-off, but Nathan Thompson’s red card opens up a slot for him if Posh play three central defenders again next weekend. Captain Beevers might be fortunate Thompson will miss that game through suspension.

6) Thompson’s indiscipline is beginning to grate. He picked up the ninth red card of his career yesterday, and his second in two seasons with Posh, for two avoidable incidents, especially for someone with so much experience. If Posh are to persist with passing out from the back Thompson will be a key man. The move to the middle of the back three was supposed to protect him from cautions, but is still committing far too many fouls.

7) Accrington Stanley outplayed Charlton Athletic away from home on Friday night after a 20-day break from action and Posh started amd finished this game well enough to suggest the 25-day break wasn’t that big a deal.

8) After a strong run of decent refereeing displays Posh have suffered two dreadful performances in a row. Yesterday Will Finnie was ridiculously erratic in what constituted a foul, a handball in the penalty area, and a cautionable offence throughout, although Lincoln skipper Liam Bridcutt did his best to help him.