'If I was a defender in a team like this, I'd have something to say'- Peterborough United Darren Ferguson boss sick of repeating himself over missed chances

Posh were punished for their wastefulness on the road at Exeter City on Tuesday which led to a 2-1 defeat. It was a second loss in a row for Posh who have now picked up just one point in their last three games.

It left Posh in fourth place when a win would have lifted them into second, but a 1-0 lead at the break thanks to a penalty from Harrison Burrows was followed by a red card early in the second-half for on-loan winger Michael Olakigbe and two Exeter goals in the final 15 minutes. The winner was an own goal from Jadel Katongo.

Exeter v Posh report

Posh missed many chances throughout the game, even after being reduced to 10 men.

Ferguson said: “The game changed when we didn’t kill them off. We had so many opportunities in the first half and the start of the second half. Even with 1- men, we had the better chances with our pace on the counter attack.

"I’m repeating myself and have repeated myself in so many games this season. We’re missing chance after chance. It’s catching up with us now.

"I just told the players, if I was a defender out there and I kept watching my strikers miss and miss, and so make us hang on in games we should be winning comfortably, with three or four goals, I’d have something to say.

“That game should have been dead and buried. Their fans were getting frustrated as they never really laid a glove on us. Our shape was good and it was just a matter of getting the second goal, but it didn’t come.

“We had the chance in the second-half when Ricky-Jade Jones is trying to shoot at the net and Joel Randall is free as a bird and I’m thinking, just pass the ball and he puts it out of play. You play it to Joel and he scores. I’m laughing because I just can’t believe what I’m seeing.

“The sending off is naive. The young boy is distraught in there because he feels he’s let us down, which he hasn’t because we win and lose together. It’s a silly challenge having been booked already although it’s a soft sending off.

“It’s irrelevant though because he’s given it, but I felt really comfortable with 10 men. It took a good free-kick to get them back in the game.

“They weren’t hurting us, our shape was good and we looked the more threatening team with the better chances. Even in the last minute, when the ball goes in and Hector Kyprianou has no one anyone near him, six yards out, he should just take a touch and put it in the net.

"When we were down to 10, I said just go 4-4-1, stay in your shape and let them play in front of us and overload different areas.

“We were comfortable, but goals do change games. You saw tonight that, especially shooting towards their end, it can get quite noisy here with the fans and they score and then they score the second not long after. We had to ride that storm a little bit.

"This is the challenge now. It’s back-to-back defeats and just one point out of nine. This happens in seasons. I’ve got to use all of my experience as I’ve been through this many times.

"We’ve just got to reset a little bit and start looking at the areas we need to improve. You get periods like this. It’s very, very rare you get a season that’s perfect.

"If any team in the league gets that then they deserve to win the league. I’ve always felt that if we’re in a position where we’re challenging coming into March then we’ve got a good chance.”

Captain Burrows stepped forward to take the first-half spot kick, awarded after Will Aimson brought down Ephron Mason-Clark. The penalty was just Posh’s second in the league this season, after Mason-Clark saw his penalty saved at Blackpool in October.

A bemused Ferguson added: “It’s amazing that after 30 games, we’ve had two penalties.

“We’re the most attacking team in the league with the most shots, most goals, most everything. I don’t know how that works out, but we got one tonight and Harrison stuck it away brilliantly.

"It’s a long journey home for the fans, I feel for them. They were great again and they were really good in applauding the players.”

Posh travel to Wycombe on Saturday (February 10) looking to bounce back to winning ways.