Make your mind up time for Peterborough United power brokers, why a fine will be on its way to London Road and set-pieces that make little sense

It would be foolish to rip up a transfer window policy on the back of one eye-opening 90 minutes and one home defeat against a powerful Plymouth Argyle side.

But team-strengthening signings, oven-ready first team starters rather than squad players, could make all the difference in keeping the play-offs in reach and, such is the daft nature of League One this season, ensuring relegation doesn’t become an issue again. Posh are six places, yet just four points, from the top six, and nine places, but just six points above Cobblers who have now slipped into the bottom four.

The shuddering crash landing of top scorer Harry Leonard certainly turned minds towards a lack of cover in the centre forward role now that Gustav Lindgren has departed. Pemi Aderoju was already on the pitch when Leonard was stretchered off, but it would be unkind to expect a player with his current CV to positively impact League One matches on a regular basis, if at all.

Many teams will fancy charging late at the post regular-season fun and some squads will look very different come February 1. I wonder if Posh will be among them.

OTHER TALKING POINTS FROM POSH 0, PLYMOUTH 1…

1) I wouldn't worry too much about this result. Posh actually got away with it as it could easily have finished 3-0 as Plymouth played a brand of aggressive football that has troubled a Luke Williams’ side at times this season. The visitors weren't pretty, but they were mightily effective. Plymouth were a better version of Stevenage, who also restricted Posh to zero chances when winning at London Road, and you could even argue they have better forward players than second-placed Lincoln, the best powerball team in the division, and another side, like Plymouth, who beat Posh comfortably despite a possession percentage of only 30 or so. Tom Cleverley’s side were in the Championship last season and, if they keep the level of intensity they delivered yesterday, while improving their finishing, they could yet have a shot of getting back there for next season. Posh have been playing well of late and yet were physically dominated from start to finish, although it took a defensive error for Plymouth to score.

2) Even in defeat, and after a sorry display, it was easy to be impressed by the eloquence and good sense of Williams’ post-match interview. Other managers of the recent past would have hidden behind the sheer awfulness of referee Ben Atkinson’s display – I doubt Steve Evans would have avoided self-combustion – but Williams preferred instead to criticise his players for picking up cheap dissent cautions and a senior defender for a needless red card. Players need to adapt to how a referee is performing no matter how frustrating that can be. Williams is equally calm during matches. There appears to be no ranting and raving. something some fans sought to question after yesterday’s game ignoring the fact the manager’s posture was exactly the same while his team were picking up 25 points in his first 12 games in charge.

3) Posh can now expect an FA fine after picking up eight yellow cards in a single game. If a team receives 5 or more yellow cards in a single match, the club is usually sanctioned with a fine for ‘misconduct’ or for ‘failing to control their players’. It matters not of course that many of the cautions picked up by Posh players yesterday might not have been awarded last week and quite possibly won’t be awarded next week either. Atkinson’s performance was pretty crazy, and not in a good way. I’m all for delay of re-start cautions no matter how early in a game, but I do have a problem when the same official makes no effort to even warn, never mind, punish timewasters. He tried to control the game with cards, but failed miserably. From the moment he failed to send Tom O’Connor off in the fifth minute until the foul throw he awarded in the 113th minute there was little confidence in his decision-making and a horrible stop-start game just suited Plymouth.

4) Right-back Peter Kioso picked up two of those yellow cards in the second-half. He’s now collected eight cautions in his last 12 appearances. He will serve a one-game ban next weekend, his second suspension of the season. Kioso’s energy and dash is essential while Matt Garbett is allowed to wander freely in front of him, but self-control has become an issue in recent weeks and it’s harming the team.

5) It might have been a co-incidence Tom O’Connor endured a horrible 25 minutes the day after news broke of his FA betting rules breach, but it would be easy to assume he wasn’t at his best mentally even if the offences happened almost a decade ago.

6) It’s now a common tactic for opposing teams to sit on Archie Collins and stop him starting Posh attacks from deep. Yesterday it fell to Plymouth forwards to deny the Posh midfielder space in the early stages, a role Lorent Tolaj took on with so much enthusiasm he couldn’t stop committing fouls, five of them before he was eventually cautioned by the hapless Atkinson. It’s a strange old game that can see a player instantly cautioned for re-start delays and yet persistently forgiven for physical abuse. Incidentally the dangerous moment that saw Leonard removed from the game didn’t result in one of the 12 yellow cards.

7) I sit through the EFL highlights show every Saturday and watch the same teams score regularly from corners and set-pieces. Yesterday’s Posh corners included teeing up a shot for Carl Johnston, a player with three career goals in almost 150 appearances, with predictable consequences and a few that didn’t ever look like getting past the first defender, even when Matt Garbett was taking them. And, most gallingly, in the final stages when Posh had a spell of pressure playing with 10 men, a couple of corners weren’t even launched into a crowded penalty area at all. Instead they were played short and the ball was immediately lost. It made little sense to me at that stage of the game.