Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson on the need to take Nicholas Bilokapic 'out of the firing line' and backing Jed Steer to bounce back from 'poor decision'

The Posh boss opted to restore Jed Steer to the line-up in the wake of Nicholas Bilokapic’s horror show at Wycombe in which Ferguson admitted that he was at fault for all three of the second half goals in the 5-2 defeat.

Steer had played the previous four league games - winning three and drawing one - prior to Bilokapic’s return from injury against Wigan earlier this month and his own shock U-turn on Deadline Day when he signed until the end of the season after it was previously announced he would leave the club.

The return of Steer failed to stop a Posh losing run which extended to four matches as the Seasiders claimed a late 2-1 win at the Weston Homes Stadium. The game turned on a second half penalty awarded to Blackpool because of a Steer challenge on Kyle Joseph after he had raced right to the edge of his area.

Ferguson chose to back his goalkeeper after what he described as a ‘poor decision’ and also revealed his thinking in making the change in goal in the first place.

Ferguson said: “His foul was certainly right on the edge of the area so it was a bad decision from Jed. That’s the key at the moment, the decision making in both boxes is not good enough. I haven’t seen it back but he’s almost outside of the box.

“I had to take Nick out of the firing line. We know Jed is experienced and Nick is a young boy and I need to protect him a little bit from all the criticism he’s been getting.

“Jed is a very good and capable goalkeeper and he’ll be absolutely fine. He didn’t have much to do in the first half. He’s very aggressive in the way he plays and he’s a good organiser, which I like. In the second half he made some saves, but a lot were quite comfortable. He’ll be disappointed with his decision leading to the penalty.”

Posh also welcomed back Kwame Poku for the first time since mid-January, along with Ephron Mason-Clark, who missed the Wycombe defeat with a minor knock.

Mason-Clark and Poku are Posh’s top League One scorers this season, with 10 and eight goals respectively.

Ferguson added: “It’s important we get them back and keep them fit for the remainder of the season. That’s going to be key. Poku did fine, he lasted fine physically.

“Ephron again was getting kicked up and down the pitch, but he was always a threat, particularly the first half.”