A battling Peterborough United performance against the odds went unrewarded

Lee Tomlin’s red card left Posh a man down for the entire second-half against Plymouth, but they played solidly until conceding the only goal of the game in the 87th minute to a terrific finish,

On-loan centre-back Ben White was the Peterborough Telegraph’s man-of-the-match. Transfer deadline day signing Josh Knight, a central defender on loan from Leicester, was an unused substitute.

Ratings key: 10-Perfect, 9-Oustanding, 8-Very good, 7-Good, 6-Average, 5-Poor, 4-Stinker

Conor O’Malley: No chance with a well-taken goal, but otherwise hardly tested. Handled what did come his way competently 6

Jason Naismith: Defended with aggression, especially when switched to a centre-back role. Needs to offer more going forward when playing as a right-back in a midfield diamond though 6.5

Daniel Lafferty: He keeps popping up in decent attacking positions without making the most of them. Defended his flank well 7

Ben White: He stood out again apart from one poor piece of communication in the first-half. He is good on the ball, but he’s also a strong defender 8

Rhys Bennett: The odd scare, but a defender not in the best of form recently battled hard and kept Plymouth top scorer Freddie Ladapo quiet 7

Alex Woodyard: Covered a lot of ground and his commitment is excellent, but playing at the base of a midfield diamond requires a better passing range than the captain possesses 6

Joe Ward: Didn’t look at all comfortable in the midfield diamond, but played well going forward when switched to wing-back. Two great crossess provided most of the attacking excitement from Posh in the second-half 7

Callum Cooke: Another for whom the starting formation doesn’t appear to suit. He put a good shift in after the break until suffering a dead leg 6

Lee Tomlin: The bad Lee Tomlin re-surfaced again with a red card after getting involved in something that didn’t concern him. He looked frustrated in the first-half anyway, although he did play the pass of the half. Arguably cost Posh the game 4

Ivan Toney: He tried hard playing up top on his own in the second-half without winning a decision from a hopeless referee. A good free kick early on was well saved, but his struggles in 2019 continued 6

Siriki Dembele: Played up front, constantly fouled, no protection from the rookie referee and limped out of the game at half-time 6

Substitutes

Louis Reed: (for Dembele, 46 mins) Took no risks with his passing 6

Kyle Dempsey: (for Cooke, 78 mins).

Matt Godden: (for Lafferty, 90 + 2 mins)

Marcus Maddison: (not used).

Aaron Chapman: (not used).

Matt Stevens: (not used).

Josh Knight: (not used).