Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson challenges his side to put on a strong performance for 90 minutes against Charlton

The Posh boss has been pleased with elements of the two performances so far but now wants to see his side perform well across a whole 90 minutes.

Despite not believing his side have hit the heights they are capable of over prolonged periods, Ferguson has been pleased to see his side start with a 1-0 away at Reading and progression in the EFL Cup thanks to penalty shootout victory over Swindon.

He said: “I’m really positive about the start of the season, we’ve started very well; the players have been excellent so far. We needed to get a level of performance to get anything at Reading and for parts of it we did. We had to dig in, which was really pleasing- you saw their result on Tuesday (a 4-0 away win at Millwall) so we know they're a good team.

“Tuesday was a game you have to give credit to the opposition. They were better than us but when I look back, they had a lot of possession and a lot of shots but those were predominantly from outside the box; they had one clear chance apart from their goal. After 50 minutes, we should have been 3-0 up.

“There were elements that weren’t at the level we expect but we probably had more control than it looked.

"We’re always looking for improvement. From the first game, it was more about how we play when out of possession and we’ve gone through the good and bad from Tuesday.

“We’ve not reached the heights over an extended period of 90 minutes as of yet and hopefully we can do that on Saturday.”

Posh are likely face their toughest test to date on Saturday when Dean Holden’s Charlton come to town. The Addicks have made a series of impressive additions over the summer, including Harry Isted, Panutche Camara, Tayo Edun, Terry Taylor and Posh’s tormenter at London Road last year- while playing for Cheltenham- Alfie May.

Holden’s side won their opener 1-0 at home against Leyton Orient but then lost 3-1 at Newport in the EFL Cup having made ten changes.

Ferguson added: “It’s a tough start to the season. We just need to get to the standards we know we can. We haven’t reached them yet, certainly over 90 minutes.

“We’ve got to make sure we stick to how we want to play and keep believing in it. Charlton will be a tough game but they all are.

“It’s the first league home game, it’s important for us to get the fans going and it’ll be the first time some of them will have seen the players that we’ve signed. I’m sure Charlton will bring a big following and it’ll be a good atmosphere.

“Our first two home games will be two big games to really to look forward to as we have Derby next, who will bring another big following.

Posh have been boosted by the news that Ephron Mason-Clark’s scan has shown no damage to his hamstring but must decide whether or not to risk the Posh captain.

There are no other injury concerns in the squad.