Frantic and frustrating, but still a decent point for Peterborough United who need to find some instinctive and ruthless forward players

Of course there was disappointment at conceding such a late equaliser and then even greater frustration 60 seconds later when Ricky-Jade Jones delivered a miss-of-the-season contender, but a point would have been viewed as acceptable before the game and the bottom line is the gap to the relegation zone increased by a point. That’s the only gap Posh should be concerned about for the next couple of the months and the second toughest remaining fixture is out of the way.

Wycombe didn’t play well here. They boast a fearsome striker in Richard Kone, but they played very little football that was easy on the eye. However they have a record this season which demands respect. They’ve lost just five of 35 League One games and none against teams who started yesterday outside the top six.

The Chairboys are obviously better than they showed at the Weston Homes Stadium, but maybe Posh made them look average with their attacking aggression in the first half and their second-half grit and determination. That in itself is worthy of praise and proof that gradual improvement has continued.

The draw was fair. It was almost 50-50 in possession, both camps felt aggrieved at key decisions going against them from the latest disappointing set of officials, both sides hit the woodwork – the post Kone hit is probably still shaking – and the goalkeepers made a key save apiece.

Usually in these instances the team who scores second goes away the happier, especially when they should have instantly conceded, but Posh should not be too hard on themselves. No longer do they look like a team heading for relegation.

TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 1, WYCOMBE 1...

1) Posh are being held back from further progress by the lack of ruthless and instinctive forward players. The remarkable miss by Jones in the dying moments will ensure his lack of confidence and natural ball-playing ability is thrust into the spotlight again, but there were other irritating examples of attacking players, who have much to commend them in terms of speed and skill, being hesitant when they should be decisive, notably when playing an extra pass when a shot is demanded. Abraham Odoh won Posh a penalty by driving into the penalty area in the early stages. He could have done the same at the start of the second-half when faced with a reasonable run at goal, but instead slowed down and lost possession. Malik Mothersille, who shone again in his new position, didn’t shoot when visiting goalkeeper Will Norris was caught out of his goal, preferring instead to pass to Kwame Poku who was immediately put under pressure. Cian Hayes seems to prefer to keep dribbling rather than to start shooting which was daft when Norris was looking so shaky. It’s very frustrating and a reason why Posh have still only scored more than one goal in a League One game once since New Year’s Day, and that was against a terrible side who played with 10 men for 113 minutes.

2) Hopefully the return of Poku will help. He came back into the matchday squad as the club’s top scorer in League One even though he hasn’t played for three months while missing 17 games. Mothersille has now caught him on 10 goals, but with the help of five penalties. Posh scored 32 goals in the 16 games Poku completed before his injury, the second highest in the division at the time. They scored 19 goals in the 17 matches that he missed.

3) Defensively Posh have improved beyond recognition, and not just because of the excellence of January arrivals Sam Hughes and Tayo Edun who were outstanding again yesterday. If centre-back Oscar Wallin could just cut out the one lapse in concentration he seems to experience in every game he has a good chance of becoming a fixture in a promotion-challenging side of the future. Wallin competed well against physical opponents yesterday, but he was grateful to see Kone smash a shot against the woodwork after he’d lost possession on the edge of his area. Young right-back James Dornelly had no such defensive concerns and his form since Carl Johnston picked up his injury has been a revelation. He pocketed experienced campaigner Garath McCleary in the first-half yesterday prompting a change of position for the veteran.

4) Posh corners remain dreadful. Odoh took one yesterday which barely reached the six yard box before drifting out of play.

5) Officials continue to cause confusion and anger in equal measures. Scott Oldham is normally a safe pair of hands at League One level, but he ruined a solid start to the game with some baffling decisions. Last weekend Posh were lucky the match referee didn’t seem to realise he could give two penalties to the same team in the same half of football. Yesterday Oldham was similarly lenient when Cian Hayes looked to have been tripped in the area 10 minutes after Posh had opened the scoring from the spot. Oldham’s foul detection skills deserted him from then on and he became horribly inconsistent right up to the award of two quick free kicks late on which led to the Wycombe equaliser. The second was nailed on, but the first could easily have gone to Posh and Oldham incensed the home crowd further by letting the visitors take a quick free kick when Wallin was stricken on the floor. Wycombe were also unhappy with his performance, especially a goal he disallowed from a corner early in the second-half. Of course none of this would have mattered as much, and possibly not even discussed, but for one horrible moment in front of the Wycombe goal at the death.