Burton Albion boss bemoans a lack of aggression and passion from his side in heavydefeat at Peterborough United

Cole Stockton (left) of Burton Albion scores an own goal to make it 3-0 to Peterborough United. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Maamria was hamstrung by the absence of five key players as his side slipped to a 4-0 defeat at the Weston Homes Stadium.

The Brewers have picked up just one point from their last four League One matches and are now 17th in the table.

Maamria said: “It was a difficult afternoon. The biggest disappointment was we didn’t show enough controlled aggression or passion.

Burton Albion clear their lines after a Joel Randall shot had slipped through the goalkeeper's hands. Photo: David Lowndes.

"For the first five minutes we pressed, but it was a really passive performance. If you are not competing with them you have no chance. We didn’t show enough aggression or passion to compete in the game.

“We can’t dwell on this result though as we were missing five key players and we have to remain positive.

“We take our medicine and move on. Peterborough are a very good side and are hard to play against when you have even your best team out there. Today we were missing five of arguably our best players, with four of our defenders and Joe Powell our holding midfielder also out, and if you take that away from any side then you are going to always struggle.

“We worked throughout the week on the way they play and the patterns they do, but we didn’t get going and we didn’t show pride in our performance as a group.

“However, putting the injuries aside, I think that if you want to come to Peterborough and get anything you have to disturb their rhythm and manage the tempo of the game, but we didn’t show enough controlled aggression or passion to compete in terms of duels.

“We can’t dwell on it. We are where we are – we have to stay positive and that was my message after the game. We draw a line under it.”