Fergie questions players' 'mentality' as Posh suffer another setback on the road

Not for the first time this season, Posh buckled under a flurry of quickfire goals to lose a game they were competing well in, and Ferguson insists the persistent lapses are nothing to do with ability.

Posh were well in the match at 0-0 in the 57th-minute at the Coventry Building Society Arena, but by the 64th they were 3-0 down having completely lost the plot, their discipline and shape following Gustavo Hamer's opening goal.

And a frustrated Ferguson, who has seen his team fold in similar fashion in three other away Sky Bet Championship games this season said: "It's not about ability, it is about being mentally tough and at the moment we are too soft.

"If I was an opposition manager I would be saying if you score a goal against us when we are away from home then that's it game over.

"The problem is not going away, and it has to go away quickly, because we cannot keep doing what we are doing away from home.

"I am not saying anything different than I have said to my players, and they know themselves that the facts are there.

"We have gone to Luton and lost a goal and then got beaten 3-0.

"We have gone to Sheffield United and conceded for 3-1 and it has gone to 6-2, we went to Reading and it went one, two, three, and tonight it's the same.

"I can say it, because it is facts that are there."

And he added: "I don't think it is about the ability of the players, or physicality, I think it is about mentality.

"And that is something that is probably the most important thing as a footballer.

"You've got to have the right mental strength."