Are Peterborough United fans and media too hard on a young team? More minutes for Clarke-Harris, pros and cons of moving Poku and what could be bothering Kyprianou

The question needs asking after Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell described Posh as the best team in the division after his side’s 2-1 London Road loss on Saturday and soon after a Devon-based radio station was heard waxing lyrical about the high class individuals in the home side.

But, compared to what we were watching before Christmas, Posh were a bit ‘meh’ yesterday, according to press box regulars and fans who love to give their, very welcome, opinions to the PT.

It can’t help this Posh team to be playing on a pitch with all the attributes of a cobbled street, but Portsmouth are really the best team in League One and have been for virtually the entire season.

Posh are probably the best to watch though which is why they’ve received a constant stream of praise from opposition managers and supporters.

TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 2, EXETER 1….

1) Posh can expect to be pressed relentlessly in home games for the rest of this season. Exeter could have scored after 40 seconds yesterday after forcing Ronnie Edwards into a rare passing error. Within a minute Harrison Burrows had also conceded possession near his own area and had to be bailed out by Edwards. The London Road pitch is an utter nightmare for this Posh team, but don’t expect the philosophy to change. The rewards are still there if Posh can break through the first pressing wave. Gaps become bigger as more players commit to closing down defenders, but equally better teams than Exeter would have punished Posh yesterday, and Tuesday’s visitors Northampton come into that category.

2) The second-half Posh press has been scuppered by the hamstring injury to Ricky-Jade Jones, unless there’s an unexpectedly favourable medical bulletin on Monday morning. And, although some fans love to mock Jones, don’t under-estimate the importance of the loss. On this surface he is a horrible player for tiring defenders to face. His first involvement yesterday was to win a corner without touching the ball. If Jones is out the pressure will be on Malik Mothersille to play for 75 minutes rather than 60. He did okay yesterday and the timing of his runs were only out by a fraction of a second on a couple of occasions when Harrison Burrows tried to play him on goal. It is, however, now likely Jonson Clarke-Harris will get more minutes and that could easily work out well if Posh are pushing teams back. A presence in the penalty area would then be a good thing.

3) Posh employed three right wingers on the pitch at various times against Exeter. On-loan Brentford teenager Michael Olakigbe showed promise in his 40 minutes of action, while David Ajiboye continues to look like a decent impact sub. If either of them have persuaded Posh boss Darren Ferguson they can start games it wouldn’t be the worst idea to play Kwame Poku in the ‘10’ role and give Joel Randall a break against Cobblers. Randall looked a weak player with a scrambled mind at times against his old club yesterday. Fancy flicks that didn’t come off and ambitious passes with his weaker foot were on view. Poku was on a whole different level when he took Randall’s position and claimed the match-winning goal with a terrific strike. Ferguson is so thorough though he will remember how Poku kept skating past the Cobblers’ left-back at Sixfields earlier this season.

4) Is Hector Kyprianou’s form being affected by starting games one cautions short of a yellow card? Maybe he needs to show that physical edge to dominate opponents. He has to survive three more games to see his slate wiped clean. A caution against Cobblers on Tuesday or at Burton on Saturday would rule him out of the live TV game against Stevenage, but he has to play while Jeando Fuchs is unavailable.

5) Jadel Katongo will be glad to see the back of Exeter City. He scored a horrible own goal at St James Park last month which cost Posh a point and yesterday there was no chance Tom Carroll’s shot was going in if it hadn’t taken a freakish deflection off the Manchester City loanee. Can’t blame Katongo for that one, although he looked exhausted by the end of the game. It was former Spurs’ man Carroll’s first goal since 2017 so no wonder he celebrated as he did.

6) As well as a sizeable points deficit Posh also have considerable goal difference disadvantage compared to the teams above them. That disadvantage grew yesterday and Posh are nine goals worse off then second-placed Derby County in a season when goal difference could become important. Posh are also no longer the top scorers in the division. Barnsley’s four goals against Wycombe took them to the top of the scoring charts by one goal.