'Mystified' Robbie Savage felt Peterborough United's players did not believe they could win at Huddersfield Town
Peterborough United boss Robbie Savage was disappointed to get the sense his players did not believe they could win at Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night.
If there were players that believed that, they were proved correct as Posh were beaten 4-1 at the Accu Stadium by one of League One’s early pace-setters.
Harry Leonard scored Posh’s only goal as they briefly held hopes of a comeback at 2-1 but they were beaten by three second half goals, all from ex-Posh players, Joe Taylor (2) and Bali Mumba.
The result, coupled with victories for Blackpool and Milton Keynes, also saw Posh fall back into the bottom four.
Savage suggested he had sensed a lack of belief in some of his players on Monday and was ultimately disappointed they were not able to take advantage of their moments in the game.
Savage said: “The lads are gutted in there. I don’t think they thought they could come here and win, like we did at Leicester, and I don’t know why. I felt it yesterday.
"We freshened it up as Ethan (Williams) and Harry (Ashfield) worked so hard on Saturday and were shattered and, based on that, we’ll have to freshen it up again.
“It was a game of moments. We are a front footed side and for the first goal, when the ball bounces near the halfway line, one of our centre-halves has to go and win the ball, but they’ve taken a step back and that was the attitude of the game. The ball then comes into the backpost and you’ve got to pick up your man.
“We had a great chance through Bolu Shofowoke, he has to put his foot through it. Every single person needs to be braver on the pitch in terms of what we do. Don’t go backwards, instead be positive.
“They’ve had a couple of chances, but not really tested the goalkeeper, neither team did that in the first half. They had probably the better moments and got the goal in the second half so we changed the shape to a 3-5-2 and got back into the game through Harry.
“At that time, we were going back to the halfway line with real belief that we can get something, but then a minute later we don’t track the runner, ball down the side and it’s 3-1. Game done. We went for it in a back three and got back into the game, but the third goal kills it.
“The good thing at 1-0 is that they didn’t go under and it was the same at 2-0, but t The third goal is a poor moment that kills the game and let’s be honest, the second is bad. It’s a ball across that Josh Feeney didn’t meet and that’s not about systems, it’s about poor decision making on the pitch.
“We had moments in the game. Danny Ormerod went clean through, but went sideways instead of for goal.
“It was a game of moments. Joe Taylor has taken his and we haven’t taken ours. All of my players worked hard, but it’s about that quality in the final third. We took the wrong decisions, made backwards steps and played sideways and backwards; that’s not us. We have to be more positive, like we did in the previoust three games.”
Savage was also questioned on his decision to move to a back three after an hour to go chasing a route back into the game. All three of Huddersfield’s second half goals came after the change was made, but he insisted that it was the right thing to do and that it led to Posh’s goal.
Savage added: “We got back into the game with the back three at 2-1. We wanted to get two up top. At 1-0, Danny is on and he has a chance, if he takes that we say, ‘wow brilliant’.
“Huddersfield are very good at what they do. They wait for moments in a 3-5-2 so it was man for man. If people switch off you can’t legislate for that. We will always be brave and positive. We needed two up as Harry was isolated. He’s got his goal from having a partner up top. Me and my staff will always try stuff.
“We didn’t test the goalkeeper enough. When we went to the back five - with Declan Frith and Ethan Williams at wing back, two up, three in midfield, that should be more secure. When we got the goal, just play as a back five for two or three minutes when we are in the ascendancy, but naivety has cost us.”
Posh are on the road again on Saturday (October 24) as they travel to struggling Bromley. They were beaten 4-0 at home by Leicester on Saturday and sit in 23rd place.