ALAN SWANN’s player ratings from Peterborough United’s shock home defeat to Cheltenham Town in the Carabao Cup (September 5) as Siriki shines the brightest

Posh man-of-the-match Siriki Dembele takes a tumble in the Carabao Cup defeat by Cheltenham. Photo: David Lowndes.

Goalkeeper Christy Pym and striker Mo Eisa also had their good moments, but it was a pretty average display overall.

Key: 10: Perfect, 9: Outstanding, 8: Very good, 7: Good, 6: OK, 5: Poor: 4: Very poor.

Christy Pym: Two fine saves with his feet before beaten by a precise 20-yard strike 7

Posh midfielder Jack Taylor shoots at the Cheltenham goal. Photo: David Lowndes.

Nathan Thompson: Competed strongly. Clearly well-up for the battle, but didn’t always channel that aggression wisely 6

Mark Beevers: A couple of sloppy passes early on, but settled down to play solidly 6

Frankie Kent: Not sure he’s happy on the left of a back three, but that doesn’t excuse the woeful backpass that gave Cheltenham their best first-half opportunity 6

Joe Ward: Took up some decent positions, but didn’t use them well. A couple of poor decisions when close to the Cheltenham area 6

Dan Butler in action for Posh against Cheltenham. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Dan Butler: Didn’t play with anything near the drive he showed at the back end of last season. No room to get forward as the opposition also played with wingbacks 6

Reece Brown: A very neat and tidy start to the game, but he soon joined the others in moving the ball on too slowly 6

Jack Taylor: Precious little impact on the game. Passed the ball very safely 6

Ryan Broom: Denied a goal against his old club early on by a decent save, one excellent pass to Eisa almost led to a goal before he was one of three substitutions on the hour mark 6

Siriki Dembele: Always looked the most likely to make something happen. Lively, penetrative and denied a couple of goals, one from an excellent free kick, by an outstanding goalkeeper 8

Mo Eiss: Played wisely on the shoulder of defenders which wasn’t always appreciated by teammates. Struck the crossbar in the second-half with a skilful effort 7

Substitutes:

Ethan Hamilton: (for Brown, 60 mins) Played with a bit of dash and determination at least 6

Idris Kanu: (for Ward, 60 mins) Athletic, but ran into defensive roadblocks, gave away silly fouls 6

Flynn Clarke: (for Broom, 59 mins): Difficult circumstances for a teenager to make a first-team debut 6

Jonson Clarke-Harris: (not used).

Dan Gyollai: (not used).

Harrison Burrows: (not used).

Niall Mason: (not used).