Darren Ferguson demands a reaction after Peterborough United didn't turn up against local rivals Cambridge United

Posh put in a below-par display as they were beaten 2-0 by a goal in each half in the Cambridgeshire derby. Harrison Dunk was unmarked from a corner to give the home side the lead just before the break before Sam Smith sealed the victory midway through the second-half.

The defeat looked to have knocked Posh right out of the play-off places until Bristol Rovers snatched an equaliser in the 95th minute against Derby. Bolton did, however, leapfrog Posh into fifth with victory over Oxford and the Trotters still have a game in hand.

Posh ended the day in sixth, still two points ahead of the Rams with four games to play.

Darren Ferguson’s men have a chance to get back on track on Tuesday when they travel to Accrington Stanley, who were thumped 5-2 at home by Fleetwood on Saturday, and Ferguson has demanded that his players give him a reaction.

Derby have a tricky trip to Exeter on Tuesday when Bolton are at Burton who beat automatic promotion hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday today.

Ferguson said: “We just didn’t perform, it’s as simple as that. I’m disappointed for the fans because it was a big one for them.

“We didn’t play well, which can happen, but even so you must do the basics right. You can’t concede goals like we did for the first one. It gave them something to hang on to. They thoroughly deserved to win. We can have no complaints. We have to take this one on the chin and move on quickly.

“We didn’t play our game. We got dragged into a different type of game and I knew if that was the case it wouldn’t suit us. We didn’t pass the ball or find the spaces well enough. I changed the shape at half time to give us more natural width with the wing-backs, but whatever we did wasn’t good enough.

“When we’ve not been good enough, we lose. We can have no complaints at all.

“I don’t like losing games, I don’t like losing anything and neither do the players. I need a reaction.

“I know what I’ve got in the dressing room and we will get a reaction. We know we didn’t turn up for whatever reason andwe can’t ignore that. It’s a reminder that if we don’t get to the standards we’re capable of then we will lose games.”

The hosts created the most chances in the match, but Posh did craft a couple of opportunties to give them some hope.

Ephron Mason-Clark missed a great chance to put Posh 1-0 ahead towards the end of the first half. Jack Taylor similarly fluffed his lines from a headed chance that could have pulled Posh back to 2-1 immediately after Cambridge scored their second.

Ferguson added: “(Mason-Clark’s chance) It summed up the game. It’s too rash. He’s got the wrong side of the boy and he should have just taken a touch and put it in the net, given the form he’s in.

“There were key moments in the game. They’ve scored a second and we’ve gone up the pitch and had our best chance of the game. Jack’s header from three or four yards has to go in. That changes the game and is even better psychologically, scoring right after them. We can have no excuses though. We got exactly what we deserved and that was nothing.

“Like I’ve said all along, teams will drop points; unfortunately we have today and we have to react.”

Posh travel to the Wham Stadium on Tuesday (7:45pm kick-off) in need of a win to keep up their play-off chase ahead of the visit of title hopefuls Ipswich Town on Saturday.