Great entertainment and a superb attacking display, but an overall performance that still raised question marks about the possibility of a Peterborough United promotion push

A lot of the chatter, including from within the club, after Saturday’s 4-3 FA Cup win over Notts County was about defensive frailties as well as the fearsome forward firepower on show. They are as dangerous as each other with the concession of soft, and, as seen with County’s third goal yesterday, downright daft goals very likely to keep Posh marooned in mid-table.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson has clearly lost patience. His new ‘get tough’ policy on his back four started with the axing of of two full-backs and, as well as replacements Jadel Katongo and Sam Curtis did, when that didn’t cure the season-long ills he hauled centre-back Emmanuel Fernandez off at half-time.

Posh despite a blistering start, were 2-1 down at that point to a League Two side shorn of their top attacking players David McGoldrick, Dan Crowley and Jobi Jones. County hadn't scored in their two previous games, including one against mighty Newport County at home.

OTHER TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 4, COUNTY 3…

1) We will now see if there are defenders in the club capable of assisting a surge up the League One table. Fernandez is suspended from Wednesday night’s game against Burton Albion – even the division’s bottom club will fancy their chances of scoring a couple – and, on the evidence of yesterday it seems likely teenager George Nevett will get his chance to shine alongside Oscar Wallin at the heart of the Posh back four. Nevett wasn’t tested defensively in his 45 minutes against County, but he obviously adds balance because of a sweet left foot. One assumes Katongo will continue at right-back and there’s a chance Curtis will continue at left-back ahead of Jack Sparkes, although that would be at the expense of balance. Management is tough.

2) Posh goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic started last season well, but once he wobbled he didn’t really recover. One hopes history isn’t about to repeat itself? Bilokapic has been good since he returned to the first-team with his ability to set up counter attacks with rapid distribution particularly noteworthy, but yesterday he was hesitant at crosses, didn’t always appear to be communicating well with his central defenders and then he managed to slip when taking a free kick and then run into a post when chasing the subsequent shot at goal in vain. That clip was all over social media last night so the Aussie will need some solid support this week.

3) And now to the good stuff, and boy was it good at times. County have a decent defensive record this season, but then they won’t have faced attacks with the speed and calibre of the Posh front four. Goalkeeper Alex Bass saved them from an absolute tonking. Ricky-Jade Jones continued his remarkable FA Cup form with two goals to reach 10 in all competitions for the season. He has improved his hold-up play and his positioning when crosses, of which there were plenty yesterday, are flying into the penalty area. His second goal against County was prime Jonson Clarke-Harris with a determination to beat Bass to an Archie Collins centre. Kwame Poku was quite subdued by his own lofty standards yesterday, but others stepped up.

4) I was as surprised as the player himself when Malik Mothersille was substituted with Posh still 2-1 behind. He had raced past his marker so often it seemed a matter of time before he scored or created a goal for someone else. He appeared to be the biggest Posh threat before the break, but there’s a reason why I did what I do and Ferguson wins promotions. Within two minutes Posh were level and three minutes after that Mothersille’s replacement Abraham Odoh had created a goal for the impressive Joel Randall. Odoh then bundled home the fourth goal. Ferguson admitted after the game Odoh was unhappy about not starting games. His chance can’t be far away.

5) The Posh attacking form is not just about the front four. To get the most out of the pace and quality up top requires quick passing through midfield and Collins and Ryan De Havilland have been exceptional at that in recent games. They’ve been getting that first pass away even when under extreme pressure. Hector Kyprianou, who was given a rigorous workout on the pitch after sitting on the substitutes’ bench yesterday, appears to have been booked in to start at Cobblers on December 9. De Havilland would have cause for complaint if that happens, even though I believe Kyprianou’s class will be needed if a promotion push is to become a reality.

6) Time wasting is the biggest current scourge of our game. There is nothing players/coaches won’t do to break up play in times of strife and County took it to new levels yesterday with a triple substitution that must have taken four minutes to execute with players making slow walks off the pitch while the referee just stood around watching. Match referee Reubyn Ricardo turned up at Posh with a card-happy reputation – 95 of them in 16 outings – but he indulged delays of game that were hardly subtle. His handling of those substitutions was inept which was a shame as he was pretty good at letting the game flow when the ball was in play.