COMMENT: Top dogs Posh are favourites for the title, the media love them, managerial genius, defensive excellence, forward brilliance and midfield stars

Certainly the bookies have taken notice - and they are rarely wrong of course - as Sky Bet have now istalled Posh as 7-4 favourites to win the title.

You can also count the local Plymouth press, some of the finest minds in the media, as big Posh fans.

“Comfortably the best side I’ve seen at Home Park this season,” said one after Posh had demolished a side previously unbeaten in 2021, 3-0.

“With that front three you should forget the play-offs and be disappointed if you don’t win the title,” said another after Sammie Szmodics, Jonson Clarke-Harris and Siriki Dembele had put Argyle to the sword, helped it has to be said by assist king Joe Ward and the club’s superstar midfielder-in-the-making Jack Taylor, in a one-sided second half.

Notably, and very sensibly, Posh boss Darren Ferguson refused to get carried away with his side’s league position, although his weekend claim that he never looks at the table will surely be tested today. A little glance perhaps and then a sly little smile of satisfaction at his side’s relentless February progress.

That’s all it will be though. There are 17 rapid fire matches still to go and form can disappear as quickly as it arrives, but for now Posh fans should start dreaming.

OTHER TALKING POINTS...

1) Whatever Ferguson is saying at half-time intervals should be bottled and sold for big money. The Posh boss would make a fortune. Posh have failed to score in the first-half of their last three matches, but have netted within two minutes, three minutes and now 18 seconds of the re-start to romp to three wins by an aggregate of 9-1. It’s not that Posh were poor in the first 45 minutes at Plymouth though. Far from it, They just couldn’t take advantage of some promising positions, something they rectified with three excellent goals after the break, two splendid team moves and a rocket shot from Taylor.

2) The goal scored by Clarke-Harris just past the hour mark was a Ferguson special. You can hear him hollering ‘forward,’ ‘positive’ and ‘tempo’ at regular intervals in most games and he got all three in one delicious move.

3) There was criticism earlier this season of an attacking unit that rarely combined in a threatening manner. They were gifted individuals who struggled to read each other’s game. It’s not a criticism that applies any more. Joe Ward could easily have shot rather than tee up Clarke-Harris for the second goal and Siriki Dembele set up a better-placed Taylor for a brilliant third goal when he could easily have taken the shot on himself. This is a team in every sense of the word now.

4) A flat back four should be the way to go for Posh now. Dembele is enjoying the space out wide where it’s harder to hack him down, although sadly not impossible. Szmodics is revelling in a free role behind Clarke-Harris and Ward, once he accepts that running forward and crossing is far more effective than stopping and passing backwards, is a superb supplier for the others.

5) Taylor also seems to get forward more in last night’s formation and that can only be a good thing. Four goals in 27 League One outings is a modest return for a player who can bash a ball into the roof of the net like he did at Home Park. The more shots he takes on the better for the team.

6) Three of the five Posh wins in February have been achieved with clean sheets. Posh now have the joint second best defensive record in the division (one goal behind Sunderland) as well as the joint best goalscoring record (alongside Hull, who have played two more games). This is the strongest defence and goalkeeper Posh have had since relegation from the Championship in 2013. Pym, who again had little to do, held his concentration well enough to make a stunning save at 2-0. There was still plenty of time to go so a Plymouth goal then could have led to a nervy finale and maybe even a different outcome. It was an important moment.

7) Lincoln’s failure to beat Swindon at Sincil Bank and Hull’s defeat at home to Ipswich were excellent results for Posh. Portsmouth’s win at Oxford and Sunderland’s home success over Fleetwood were not so welcome. But if Posh keep winning no other results matter. As Ferguson says the focus can only be on our own results.