Peterborough United boss believes there was 'nothing in the game' between his side and high-flying Lincoln

Ferguson was speaking after his side’s morale-boosting back-to-back wins were followed by a miserable 3-0 home defeat.

The Posh boss felt there was little between the sides, but was left angered by his side’s ‘poor’ reaction to going 2-0 down. Ferguson was also left to rue two good chances that were missed by Jimmy-Jay Morgan soon after the first two Lincoln strikes, which could have pulled his side back into the game.

Posh remain second from bottom, while Lincoln continued their impressive start and sit third, two points off leaders Bradford City.

Ferguson said: “It’s a very poor result. To lose 3-0 to Lincoln at home is a shocking result. There was nothing in the game up until the second goal and the disappointing part for me is how we reacted to that. It all became a bit of a mess for that final half an hour.

“We started poorly while they started well and scored. We knew the first goal would be important because of the way they play. Towards the end of the first half, we got a bit of control - JJ hit the post and Archie Collins had a headed chance - but I didn’t think there would be many chances in the game.

“We started the second half really well, we were strong and they went to a back five and just sat in. But we had a really disappointing reaction to conceding the second goal. We lost complete confidence and belief in each other and how we wanted to play.

“There was still half an hour to go and if you add injury time, 40 minutes, but we just ran out of ideas. We tried one or two different things, but nothing came off. We needed to show more and we just have to react better.

“There are always fine margins. If we score to go 1-1 we’re back in the game and at 2-0, JJ had another great chance, but puts it past the post. There weren’t enough clear cut chances, but against a team that was stubborn and organised and defend the box well, there wasn’t going to be. That was unless we got the first goal, but the game suited them when they scored first.

“We knew they would be a threat from set-pieces, especially when Tom Hamer came on. We knew all about his throwsm but the third goal from one of them was a mess. It was nothing to do with a lack of preparation. It was just disorganised, ‘you have it, I’ll have it’ and it ended up in the back of the net.

“It’s a setback, but we have to go again. What I want to see is more determination when things go against us. We became disjointed at 2-0. I take responsibility because I was trying different things, but you have to give the opposition credit. They are on a good run, they are well organised and they have a lot of experience. They saw the game out comfortably.”

Ferguson is set to field a much-changed side for the visit of Aston Villa U21s in the Vertu Trophy on Tuesday night (7pm) before his side travel to face Bolton Wanderers in a League One match next Saturday (October 4).