Darragh MacAnthony: ‘Heavy hitters need to step up to the plate, we had our tummies tickled at the weekend’

MacAnthony described Saturday’s League One defeat - a fourth in the last five matches - at Portsmouth as ‘as bad it gets’ and he called on the management team, coaching staff and the players to work harder to put things right.

Posh have slipped to fourth in the table.

MacAnthony, who is back in the UK for Christmas, said: “We have some big players at the club who are right out of form. We recruited some heavy hitters in the summer and they need to show their mettle and step up to the plate. That’s not me being critical as they know this.

“Saturday was as bad it gets. We were not good. We can’t just roll over and have our tummies tickled at a place like Portsmouth. That’s not us and that’s not what we want to be. The management staff and players have to work harder to put things right. We can’t win the games we have this season and then play like we have recently.

“We have to start winning and hopefully that will start tomorrow.”

Posh host West Ham Under 21s in the Papa John’s Trophy tomorrow (December 8, 7pm) when fans will be allowed into the Weston Homes Stadium for the first time this season.

Posh can admit 2,000 supporters, but tickets sales were slow over the weekend. They are now on general sale priced £18 and £9. Details from www.theposh.com.

Posh signed forwards Jonson Clarke-Harris and Sammie Szmodics in the summer for fees around the £1 million mark.