Darren Ferguson disappointed not to beat Reading as decisions went against his Peterborough United side in draw

Hector Kyprianou saw a goal disallowed against Reading that would have made it 2-0. Photo: Joe Dent.

Posh were twice pegged back in the second half after Josh Knight and Ephron Mason-Clark had put them 1-0 and then 2-1 up.

Despite their dominance in terms of possession and chances, Posh were never able to get out two goals ahead and paid the price for wasting a handful of good opportunities.

Ferguson was also disappointed to see a couple of strong looking first-half penalty shouts, on Peter Kioso and Ronnie Edwards, turned down. Posh were also denied a 2-0 lead by the offside flag when Hector Kyprianou had fired a cross from Archie Collins into the net early in the second half.

Peterborough United Manager Darren Ferguson though his side were hard done by on a couple of occasions from the referee.

Despite the draw, Posh still closed the gap to leaders Portsmouth to four points as Pompey were beaten 2-1 away at Bristol Rovers. Bolton and Derby both picked up wins though, against Lincoln and Wigan respectively, and can both pass Posh with their games in hand.

Ferguson defended his decision to name the same starting line-up for the seventh straight Leaguer One game especially with games against promotion rivals Barnsley (Friday, home) and Derby (away, New Year’s Day) on the horizon.

Ferguson said: “I’m disappointed we’ve not won a game we’ve deserved to win. Stats can be confusing, but not today; 20 shots, 16 corners. The one thing we didn’t do is turn the one goal lead into a two-goal lead at any point.

"Hector’s goal is onside but what can you do? Everyone makes mistakes, but apparently it’s onside.

“Kioso’s one is a penalty, but if I was the Reading manager, I’d think it was soft. And I don’t understand this warning players three or four times about holding into players. It’s a penalty kick if you drag people down in the penalty area.

“The referee has warned them two or three times, rather than give it. He’s warned them again at half time and then in the second half. The difference is they’ve stopped doing it. It’s too late by then.

"It’s a penalty kick on Ronnie as he’s been dragged to the floor. All that being said, we’ve all got opinions and they all differ, but I just need to put that to one side and focus on our performance. It was a good one, we looked fresh. There is no problem with the fitness and these lads could play again tomorrow as they’re a fit bunch. We’ll be fine.

"The opening part, up until 30 minutes was quite even, they are a good team. The way they play and the players they’ve got at the top end of the pitch, they are as good as anyone in the league. I don’t know why they are where they are, I knew it would be a tough game and so it proved to be.

“After half an hour we got control. We scored a very good set-piece and I felt we’d go and get another one. Ephron should score, but hits one over the bar. We just couldn’t get that two-goal lead and they were hanging on. Poku has had a sitter as well.

“They equalise and to be fair to my players, the response to that was fantastic and then at 2-1, we had to get the third and kill it off, but we’ve given away a sloppy goal.

“It’s two games on the bounce we’ve conceded a goal and hit back within five minutes, which is very, very pleasing. At 2-1, you’re thinking go and win the game, but they were always a threat in transition.

"We’ve got to secure the ball better in the middle of the pitch as that’s where counter attacks happen. The first goal comes from us giving it away in the middle and unfortunately we couldn’t get over the line in the end.

“We’ll keep going, it’s another point. We’re on a very good run, we’ve only been beaten once at home, we’re looking very strong and there’s always going to be dropped points at this time of the season. We just have to go onto the next one.”