'I should have protected the team better'- Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson takes responsibility for game changing Exeter red card

The 19-year-old was sent off in just his second Posh appearance after picking up a second booking for a late trip on an opponent after 56 minutes.

His first caution came for pulling back an opponent after losing the ball after 36 minutes.

Posh were leading 1-0 at the time of the red card, but went on to lose 2-1 at St James Park thanks to two unfortunate own goals, first with Nicholas Bilokapic seeing Reece Cole’s free-kick strike the post and his back before crossing the line and the second when Jadel Katongo diverted a cross into his own net.

With time to reflect, Ferguson has taken what he calls the blame for the red card, which is likely to see David Ajiboye return to the line-up when Posh travel to Wycombe on Saturday as Olakigbe will be serving a one-game suspension.

Ferguson said: “We were very comfortable in the game and the sending off played a big part. That’s on me.

“Looking back, I wanted to help Michael out the best I could and give him another 10 minutes, but he looked physically not there with the two games in four days, I should have taken him off at half time.

“That was on me. I should have protected the team better and not put the team at risk of going down to 10 men.

“That wasn’t the sole reason we lost, but I should have seen that earlier and made the the change. I didn’t though and unfortunately we’ve lost him. It’s very rare you lose wingers to two bookings.

"Michael is now going to be suspended, but we’ve got other options that can play there.”

Posh have now taken just one point from their last three games and the quality of their finishing has once again been brought into question after a series of missed chances proved costly once again on Tuesday night.

Ferguson added: “I’ve told the players, it’s important we keep creating chances. The worry would be if we were to stop creating chances. We are creating so many and the positive is that we still are doing that.

“It’s like a striker who isn’t scoring, as long as he keeps getting in there and getting the chances, it’s ok.

“I’m pleased we never gave up and created chances until the last minute. We just have to stay clam, continue doing what we’re doing and have that belief that we’re good enough to start winning games again.

"I’m fairly relaxed about the situation. We don’t want to be losing games, but we are still in a very, very good position.”

Posh are fourth heading into Saturday’s game at Wycombe, but just three points off an automatic promotion place.